










' ' ' ' , 



:ft;r,-.::t "■• :;,;::i:i: "- ■ 



[|i|!|||r 

■■■■'■■'■■ ■:■'■." 






i lift 



Class xJ. 




Copyright ^.J^LLL/ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: 



COMMERCIAL VIOLET CULTURE 




Double Violet Swanley White. Half natural size 



COMMERCIAL 
VIOLET CULTURE 



A TREATISE ON THE 

GROWING AND MARKETING OF 

VIOLETS FOR PROFIT 



BY 

B. T. GALLOWAY 



DEAN OF THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, 

CORNELL UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, N. Y. FORMERLY CHIEF 

OF THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY, AND ASSISTANT 

SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, UNITED STATES 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 



THIRD EDITION 
REVISED 



NEW YORK 

A. T. DELAMARE PTG. & PUB. GO. LTD. 

1914 



e£ 






Copyright 

Entered according to act of Congress 
in the Years 1899 and 1903 
By A. T. de la Marc Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd. 
New York 

Third Edition, Revised 

Copyrighted 1914 by 

A. T. De La Mare Printing and Publishing Company Ltd. 

new York 



All Rights Reserved ; i jviM 

©CI.A376641 



PREFACE 

Violet growing as a business has not received 
the attention given to some other crops. This is 
probably due to the fact that the violet as generally 
grown is less profitable than the rose, carnation, or 
even the chrysanthemum. More people have 
embarked in this business and failed than is the 
case with, any other crop, and for this reason we 
believe that it is one of the most promising fields for 
the young, energetic, and intelligent man to enter. 
Whoever enters it, however, must recognize at the 
start that there are many difficulties, and that to 
be successful means much labor, patience and 
determination to overcome all obstacles. The 
knowledge necessary to succeed can come only 
through experience. Reading will help, but with- 
out the ability to apply what is learned by reading 
little progress can be made. We have gone over 
this ground pretty thoroughly, and in looking back 
can see that our experience in many cases was 
dearly bought. To save others from making mis- 
takes that fell to our lot we have in some instances 
made statements which might be considered as 
dogmatic. We have done this for the reason that 
we were many times, led away by general state- 



ments, which, had they been specific, would have 
saved us much time and money. We have endeav- 
ored to give every necessary detail for handling 
the soil, erection of houses and frames, the manage- 
ment of the plants, and the marketing of the flowers, 
and finally we have shown what it costs to grow a 
violet plant, what such a plant under fair conditions 
should yield, and what in our experience may be 
looked upon as a fair profit. 

From the facts given it will be seen that no big 
fortunes are to be made in violet growing; but if a 
man loves Nature and that quiet and peace which 
work with her should always bring, there is a 
chance here to open her doors. Thus a love for all 
that is good and beautiful may be cultivated and 
a respectable living made at the same time. 

I wish to express my thanks to P. H. Dorsett, 
who shared with me all the trials and vexations 
which fall to the lot of beginners in this work. He 
is now a successful grower, and many of the illus- 
trations given are from his houses. 

B. T. Galloway. 
Washington, D. C, 

July i st, 1899. 



PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION 



Since the first edition of this little work was 
written, four years ago, there have been some 
changes in the methods of growing violets for 
market. The writer has seen a number of formerly 
successful growers go out of the business, and others 
without any previous experience succeed astonish- 
ingly. This leads us to repeat what was stated in 
our first preface, namely, that because so many 
people fail with this crop we believe it is one of the 
most promising for the intelligent and energetic 
man to take up. In this edition we have made 
certain changes which experience has taught us, 
and offer it with thanks for the kind reception given 
the first work. Figures 62, 64, 66 and 68 are from 
Bull. 27, Division of Entomology, U. S. Department 
of Agriculture, and we are indebted to Dr. L. O. 
Howard, chief of the division, for the electrotypes. 

B. T. Galloway. 
Washington, D. C, 

May 1st, 1903. 



PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION 



During the eleven years since the second edition 
of " Commercial Violet Culture " was issued, it 
has been steadily in demand, and the number of 
orders awaiting to be satisfied upon the appearance 
of the present edition attest the high value of this 
little work, and bespeak for it continued usefulness. 

The demand for violet flowers fluctuates con- 
siderably, but their sale is always an important 
part of the wholesale and retail florists' trade. One 
firm alone, at Boston, Massachusetts, sold 160,000 
violet blooms on a St. Valentine's Day, and upon 
another occasion a different firm disposed of 150,000. 
These are but typical of other transactions in the 
violet market. Just what the actual yearly turn- 
over amounts to, it would be interesting to know, 
but, assuredly, the figures would be astonishing. 

The industry is still enlarging, for the violet is 
the favorite of the people. It has, indeed, been 
classed as the third most popular of the commercial 
flowers. 

May, 1914 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Chapter I Page 

Single Varieties 19 

Russian Violet 19 

Welsiana 19 

Governor Herrick 20 

Luxonne 20 

California, or Madame E. Arene 20 

Princess of Wales, or Princess de Galles 20 

La France 21 

Dorsett 21 

Double Varieties 21 

Neapolitan 21 

Lady Hume Campbell 24 

Marie Louise 24 

Farquhar and Imperial 24 

Swanley White 25 

Madam Millet 25 

Origin and Introduction of Varieties 25 

Culture, Past and Present 31 

Violet Farmers 32 

Chapter II 

The Soil 37 

Chapter III 

Construction and Heating of Houses and Frames 50 

Construction of Houses 50 

Heating 64 

Construction of Frames 88 

Chapter IV 

Water Supply 96 



Chapter V p age 

Propagating, Selecting, Planting, Cleaning, Watering, 

etc ioo 

Propagating ioo 

Selection of Stock for Vigor and Productiveness 117 

Planting 124 

Cleaning, Watering, Syringing, Mulching and Feeding. 132 

Chapter VI 

Temperature Conditions and Ventilation 138 

Chapter VII 

I landling and Marketing the Crop 148 

Chapter VIII 

Diseases and Insect Enemies 170 

Diseases and Their Treatment 170 

Spot, or Spot Disease 172 

Wilt, or Stem Rot 181 

Nanism, or Stuntedness 185 

Scald, or Edge Burn 189 

Oedema, or Wart Disease 193 

Crown Rot 197 

Root Galls 198 

Bud Nematodes 201 

Insects and Other Pests 203 

Red Spider 203 

Green and Brown Aphides 212 

Cut Worms 221 

Sawfly 223 

Gallfly Maggots 224 

Phlyctaenia rubigalis 229 

Chapter IX 

Cost of Production and Profits 230 

Chapter X 

Violet Growing for Beginners 239 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 
Frontispiece — Swanley White Double Violet 6 

i . Dorsett Single Violet 22 

2. Dorsett Single Violet, Bunched 23 

3. Princess of Wales Single Violet. 26 

4. Marie Louise Double Violet 28 

5. Gov. Herrick Single Violet 29 

6. Characteristic Growth of California (Single) and 

Marie Louise (Double) Compared 30 

7. Mixing Soil. Spreading Manure in Layers Between 

the Soil , 43 

8. Mixing Soil. Breaking and Pulverizing the Sod 

Preparatory to Putting It Down with Layers of 
Manure 44 

9. Sash House with Sashes Off 51 

10. House Twelve Feet Wide, Six Feet to Ridge; Side 

Ventilators of Glass 52 

11. Type of Even-Span House, Twelve Feet Wide, 

Showing Method of Running Heating Pipes and 
Constructing Beds 53 

12. Type of Even-Span House, Twelve Feet Wide, with 

Two Deep Walks, Showing Heating Pipes and 
Method of Constructing Beds, Roofs and Ends. . 55 

13. Shed at North End of Houses, Showing Method of 

Construction 56 

14. Interior of Shed Shown in Figure 13 57 

15. Roofs of Twelve-Foot Houses, Showing Method of 

Construction and of Attaching Ventilators 58 



Page 

1 6. A Twelve- Foot House, Showing Method of Con- 

structing and Attaching Side Ventilators 61 

17. Fastening Pipes to Posts by Tin Clips 65 

18. Fastening Pipes to Posts by Bent-Wire Nails 65 

19. Interior of Twelve-Foot House, Showing Method of 

Constructing South End and Door 66 

20. Interior of House, Showing Method of Connecting 

Flow Pipe with Four Returns 67 

21. Ridge and Furrow House Construction. Method 

of Making Gutter and Attaching Sash Bar 68 

22. Interior Construction. Method of Connecting Re- 

turns of Hot Water Pipes at North End of House. . 69 

23. Construction of Single House. Method of Making 

Gutter, Attaching Sash Bar and Fitting Side 
Ventilators 70 

24. Method of Splicing Ridge 72 

25. House Twenty-four Feet Wide; Posts Set and Shed 

at North End Built First 73 

26. Constructing House Twenty-four Feet Wide; Second 

Step, Making Beds and Walks 74 

27. Constructing House Twenty-four Feet Wide; Third 

Step, Running Gutters and Notching Plate 
Around Posts 75 

28. Temporary House, Made of Sashes Nailed Together 

at the Top, Supporting Posts Two by Three 
Inches 83 

29. Simple Coldframe, Six Feet Wide and Continuous. ... 85 

30. Violets in Frame, Covered with Lath Screen 87 

31. Violets in Heated Frames; Shaded by Rough Boards 

Five Feet Above Beds 89 

32. Violets in Heated Frames. Summer Shading by 

Boards 91 



Page 

33. Cuttings with Hard, Wiry Roots, from Divided 

Crowns 101 

34. Various Kinds of Cuttings from a Divided Crown. . . 102 

35. Common Form of Cutting from Divided Crown 104 

36. Lath Box, or Flat, for Rooted Cuttings 106 

37. Sand-Rooted Cuttings, Ready to Plant in Flats 

Filled with Soil no 

38. Sand-Rooted Cuttings, Ideal Type, Ready to Put 

in Soil 112 

39. Pedigree Plant 118 

40. Bed of Pedigree Plants 1 20 

41. Violet Culture Under Lath Sheds in California 128 

42. Field Culture of Violets in Virginia 130 

43. Violets Bunched for Philadelphia Market, Some of 

the Flowers Projecting from the Bunch 150 

44. Violets Bunched for Washington Market, Using 

Princess of Wales Leaves 152 

45. Picking Violets 1 58 

46. Leaves of California Violet Wired Together for 

Bunching Flowers 160 

47. Leatherette Shipping Box, Open 162 

48. Shipping Box Showing Wire Screen for Holding 

Bunches 163 

49. Shipping Box, Closed and Strapped 164 

50: Box of Violets Packed for Market 166 

51. Violets Bunched for Market 168 

52. Spot Disease. Early Effects on Foliage 173 

53. Spot Disease on Hardy English Violets 175 

54. Spot Disease Artificially Produced 177 

55. Rooted Campbell Cuttings, Showing Effects of 

Thielavia on the Roots 182 



Page 

56. Plants Stunted by Strong Fertilizer 186 

57. Edge Burn, Brought on by Cold Soil 189 

58. Leaves and Flowers Injured by Botrytis 191 

59. Oedema, or Wart Disease 194 

60. Example of Crown Rot 196 

61. Root Galls 199 

62. Red Spider 205 

63. Nozzle Used in Spraying Plants for the Destruction 

of Red Spider 206 

64. Brown Aphides 215 

65. Method of Determining the Cubic Contents of 

Houses 219 

66. Sawfly 226 

67. Injuries to Violet Leaves by Gallfly Maggots 227 

68. Gallfly 228 

69. Larvae and Moths of Phlyctaenia rubigalis 229 



COMMERCIAL VIOLET CULTURE 



CHAPTER I 

The sweet violet, Viola odorata, from which 
our cultivated forms have doubtless arisen, is widely 
distributed over Europe and Asia, but is not found 
native in America. The violet has been cultivated 
from remote times, first probably as a medicinal 
plant, but later to satisfy a love for the beautiful. 
Following are some of the more important forms 
now grown: 

SINGLE VARIETIES 

Russian Violet. Very hardy and free flower- 
ing; flowers medium violet* in color, fairly good 
size. 

Welsiana. Plant much branched; foliage 
rather soft, light green; flowers large, on long stalks; 
color true violet; a valuable variety, but not so 
amenable to culture as some others. 



* In referring to the colors of violets we have used Ridgway's Nomen- 
clature of Colors, published by Mrs. Ridgway, 3447 Oakwood Tee., 
Washington, D. C. The principal colors are the true violet, as will be 
found in Princess of Wales, and the various shades of mauve. Mauves 
are a mixture of white with violet. The mauves therefore may be dark 
or light, depending upon the amount of white present. Marie Louise is a 
true mauve; Lady Hume Campbell, a light mauve. 



20 VARIETIES 

Governor Herrick. This is one of the fa- 
vorite varieties in the cut flower trade at the 
present time, owing to its vigor, great length of 
stem, large, bold flowers, and distinctive, bright 
rose-violet color. It is one of the best for Winter, 
but is totally devoid of fragrance. 

Luxonne. A valuable variety, with large 
flowers of a dark violet color; foliage stronger 
in texture and of a richer green than the or- 
dinary Russian violet; flowers from September 
to Spring. 

California, or Madame E. Arene. We use 
the name California because it has become so well 
established that it is not practicable at this time to 
change it. This violet is unquestionably one of the 
most valuable of the single sorts. The plant grows 
like a weed and flowers pretty regularly throughout 
the entire Winter; foliage soft and lightish green in 
color; flowers large, light violet in color, with stems 
sometimes eight inches to a foot in length. 

Princess of Wales, or Princesse de Galles. 
All things considered, this is the best single violet 
that has come to our attention. The plant is very 
vigorous, and has the compact habit of growth of 
the double sorts; leaves dark, rich green, of firm 
texture, making them very valuable for bunching; 
flowers large, of a true rich violet color, and borne 
on long, strong stems. 



VARIETIES 21 

La France. A fine, large, prolific violet; 
flowers throughout the season, not so abundantly 
as Princess of Wales, but the flowers are larger and 
have longer stems; a valuable variety for growing in 
frames or houses; foliage not so good for bunching 
as Princess of Wales, but better than California. 

Dorsett. A very prolific violet, flowering 
throughout the entire season, often giving two hun- 
dred and fifty to three hundred flowers per plant. 
The plant is exceedingly vigorous, and has the com- 
pact habit of the double sorts; leaves dark, rich 
green, firm in texture and fine for bunching; flow- 
ers middle size, of a rich violet color, but lacking 
in odor. This violet was secured several years ago 
from Virginia by P. H. Dorsett, formerly of Gar- 
rett Park, Maryland, under the name of Princess 
of Wales, which it only slightly resembles. It is 
a most valuable sort for growing for flowers or 
foliage, and on account of its ease of propagation 
and vigor is quite profitable. (See Figs, i and 2.) 

There are single violets, white, yellow and pink 
in color, but it is not necessary to give any details 
in regard to them, for the reason that there is prac- 
tically no commercial demand for them. 

DOUBLE VARIETIES 

Neapolitan. One of the oldest of the double 
sorts, and doubtless the parent of a number of our 
most valuable varieties; growth compact; leaves 



22 



VARIETIES 




i.— Single violet Dorsett. Reduced one-half 



VARIETIES 



23 




2. — Single violet Dorsett, bunched. Reduced one-half 



24 VARIETIES 

rather small; flowers pushing up straight through 
the crown, borne on strong, straight stems; color 
very light mauve (commonly called light lavender); 
it is hardy and comparatively free flowering; 
blooms from September to Spring. 

Lady Hume Campbell. More vigorous than 
the last, with larger leaves and flowers; the flowers 
push up through the crown and stand above the 
leaves on straight, strong stems; color of the flow- 
ers, when properly grown, a mauve, several shades 
lighter than Marie Louise; flowers freely and con- 
tinuously from September to May, and is com- 
paratively free from disease. 

Marie Louise. The most widely cultivated 
violet in this country, and the one for which there 
is the greatest demand. This violet is not so vigor- 
ous as the last, and is therefore more subject to the 
attacks of a number of diseases; the leaves are 
large, of a rich green color, but inclined to be soft; 
the flowers push out from the sides of the crown and 
are usually found resting on the ground; flower 
stalks not so straight as Campbell, making the 
flowers more difficult to bunch; color of flowers 
true mauve; base of petals white, splotched with 
red. The red marks are very characteristic of this 
variety, and never occur, so far as we are aware, in 
any except closely related strains. 

Farquhar and Imperial. Both of these forms, 



ORIGIN AND INTRODUCTION OF VARIETIES 25 

so far as we have been able to determine, are merely 
vigorous strains of Marie Louise. 

Of other double varieties there may be men- 
tioned Swanley White (pure white) and Madam 
Millet (pink). The former is grown in limited 
numbers commercially, but there is no great de- 
mand for it, and for the latter, which is very little 
grown, no demand at all. 

ORIGIN AND INTRODUCTION OF VARIETIES 

The demand for single violets in this country is 
steadily increasing, and much interest is therefore 
manifested in securing varieties suitable for forc- 
ing which will bunch well and give abundant 
odor. Owing to the increased demand for singles, 
and, furthermore, for the reason that the leaves of 
certain varieties are exceedingly useful in bunch- 
ing, it would be well for every grower to devote 
a part of his space to some vigorous kind like Prin- 
cess of Wales, La France, or the Dorsett violet. 
About eight hundred plants of any of these varieties 
will, with good cultivation, give enough leaves for 
bunching the flowers from eight thousand Campbell 
or Louise. In this way the foliage of the Campbell 
or Louise is left to support the flowers — a great ad- 
vantage, especially where it is difficult to get a vig- 
orous leaf growth on the double varieties named. 
The Princess of Wales, La France and Dorsett will, 
with even ordinary care, yield a sufficient number 




3. — Single violet Princess oj Wales. Half natural size 



ORIGIN AND INTRODUCTION OF VARIETIES 2J 

of flowers to pay well for the space devoted to them, 
so that altogether it is an advantage to have them. 

There has been much discussion as to the origin 
of the Marie Louise and Campbell violets. The 
Marie Louise has been known under various names 
in France and Germany for sixty or seventy years. 
It was introduced into this country in 1871 by 
John Cook, of Baltimore. Mr. Cook obtained the 
stock through Schuer, of Heidelberg, Germany, who 
advertised it as the best violet belonging to the 
Parma class. After growing it for two years Mr. 
Cook sold large quantities of his stock to Peter 
Henderson and John Henderson, of New York, and 
to Henry A. Dreer, of Philadelphia. The flowers 
created a sensation, and the plants, in consequence, 
were in great demand. 

We find a record of the Lady Hume Campbell 
violet as far back as 1884 in the " Gardeners' 
Chronicle," of London, England. There it is said 
that the variety had been seen growing in the gar- 
dens of Harefield Court, Rickmansworth, and that 
it was exceedingly vigorous. It was regarded as a 
vigorous strain of Neapolitan. It is stated further 
that the variety had been brought from abroad 
several years before by Lady Hume Campbell and 
planted in her gardens at Highgrove, Watford. 
Soon after it was noticed at Lady Campbell's place 
by Charles Turner, who bought the stock and pre- 
sumably put it on the market. It was imported in 




4- — Double violet Marie Louise. Reduced one-half 




.—Single violet Gov. Herrick. Half natural size 



30 ORIGIN AND INTRODUCTION OF VARIETIES 

1892 by H. Heubner, of Groton, Massachusetts, 
who obtained his stock from Beachy, in Devon- 
shire, England. Mr. Heubner informed the writer 
that he imported the so-called " De Parme " at 




6. — Characteristic growth of California (single) and Marie 
Louise (double) compared 

the same time, and he considers it to be in every way 
identical with Campbell. Parme de Toulouse and 
Parme sans Filet, both grown for a number of years 
in France and catalogued bv Millet and others, seem 



ORIGIN AND INTRODUCTION OF VARIETIES 3 1 

to be the same as Campbell. It is probable, there- 
fore, that the Campbell originated on the continent 
of Europe, that it was brought to England about 
1879 or 1880, and was imported into the United 
States in 1892, or possibly earlier. Be that as it 
may, the variety has made a place for itself, and is 
now, owing to its great vigor and productiveness, 
gradually taking the place of the Marie Louise in 
some parts of the United States. 

CULTURE, PAST AND PRESENT 

Of the early days of violet growing in this 
country, that is, the work as it was carried on up 
to twenty-six years ago, little need be said. In most 
cases the methods employed were crude when looked 
at from the present point of view, just as our meth- 
ods will, no doubt, be considered crude by those 
who follow us. The plants, for the most part, were 
grown in frames or in pots, under the mistaken 
idea that it was necessary to have them near the 
glass. Even now, despite the rapid advances made 
in greenhouse construction, it is rare to find a mod- 
ern violet establishment in the true sense of the 
word. Sash houses are still largely in vogue, and 
little resemble the compact, business-like structures 
used for carnations and roses. We are at a loss 
to account for this except on the ground that 
the plant is really one which at times will do 
fairly well under seemingly very poor treatment; 



32 VIOLET FARMERS 

while again all the coaxing and luxurious surround- 
ings imaginable cannot make it thrive. It is a 
truth well established that more people go into 
violet growing and fail than is the case with the 
growing of any other crop under glass. Time and 
time again we have seen men start into the business 
with no experience and nothing but the poorest 
kind of equipment, and succeed for the first two or 
three years in a truly remarkable way. Then 
trouble comes in one form or another, and in two 
or three years more the grower has passed out of 
the field. It requires about five years to definitely 
determine what a man with ordinary facilities can 
do in this matter. Of course he will have his ups 
and downs, and the temptation will be strong at 
times to give up the task and take up some other 
crop. Such moments are his worst, for if he sticks 
to his one problem, and endeavors to profit by his 
experience, he will in the end succeed. 

Violet Farmers 

Coming back to the question of how violets are 
grown today, we find that those engaged in the 
work may be divided into two groups, (i) the ex- 
tensive group, comprising what may be called 
violet farmers, and (2) the intensive, comprising 
violet growers proper. Of course, one will find 
numerous gradations, but for practical purposes 
they may be classed under the foregoing heads. 



VIOLET FARMERS 33 

Violet farming is often practiced in more or less re- 
mote country districts, where land and labor are 
cheap. Houses are seldom used for such work, but 
frames are resorted to, and the care of the plants is 
left to boys — sometimes colored, sometimes white — 
overlooked by the owner of the place, or perhaps by 
a foreman or two. In a number of cases this method 
is practiced by women, and not without success. 
Of course, there are numerous places where work of 
this kind could be carried on with a fair prospect of 
success. There are many farms situated at 
seventy-five, one hundred, and even two hundred 
or three hundred miles from our large cities, which, 
with ordinary farm crops, barely yield a living. In 
such cases a young or middle-aged person might 
take up this work and make it more profitable than 
the mere growing of farm crops. In all such cases, 
however, it must be borne in mind that to succeed 
there must be work day and night, perhaps, for a 
time; and while it may never be the heavy, killing 
labor which farm work is often made to be, it is 
ceaseless, tiresome toil just the same. 

The intensive grower, on the other hand, should 
endeavor to locate within easy driving distance or 
shipping distance of his principal market; that is, 
he should, if possible, be located so that he can pick 
his flowers and have them in his dealer's hands 
within an hour, or earlier if possible. It is the 
sweet, delicious fragrance that is one of the chief 



34 VIOLET FARMERS 

qualities of this flower, and the moment it is picked 
it begins to lose this all-important thing. There- 
fore, endeavor to locate so that you are in quick 
reach of your principal dealer, keeping constantly 
in mind the fact that your success depends largely 
on his success. Proximity to market should be 
set down as the first requisite to success, but not 
the only one by any means. Character of the 
soil, and facilities for obtaining manure, water, and 
other necessities, must be considered. These fac- 
tors will all be described in detail under their 
proper heads. 

Last, and most important of all, the man him- 
self must be considered, or, if possible, must con- 
sider himself. No man can learn to grow violets 
from reading books, nor can he expect to get this 
knowledge from watching others. He can get help 
and suggestions, of course, but the problems them- 
selves he must work out alone. There is no such 
thing as luck in growing this crop, although it often 
looks that way. A man succeeds because he has 
the necessary knowledge to take advantage of the 
little things and make the most of them. Another 
fails because he does not see, or fails to realize, the 
importance of the little hourly, and we might al- 
most say minutely, occurring things which are 
necessary to make the plants grow and thrive. It 
is not sufficient to be able to put on water, mix 
soil, to stoke a fire, or to feed and propagate the 



VIOLET FARMERS 35 

plants properly. The man may do all these ac- 
cording to the very best practices and yet his 
plants will never grow and bloom like those of the 
man who has the intuitive knowledge to realize 
the little needs and to make the cumulative effects 
of this knowledge felt in just the right way and at 
the right time. All this is hard to put into words, 
and will not be understood at all by some readers; 
but it is seen everywhere, from the lady who grows 
only a few house plants, but always succeeds with 
them, to the grower with his acres of glass in which 
every plant seems to spring into vigorous growth 
so long as his watchful eye is upon them and his 
hand is present to guide and direct the various 
operations. 

The successful grower, then, is born, not made; 
for it is not a question of mechanics, but one of 
brains and natural aptitude; and therefore, if 
there is not an inherent love for plants — that feel- 
ing of sympathy between you and them — some 
other work would better be undertaken. With 
love for the work, and appreciation of every need 
of the plants, success will in the end result, even 
though many difficulties in the way of surroundings 
must be overcome. 

To conclude, the whole gist of this argument is 
that surroundings, of course, count for a consider- 
able amount in such work, but more than all the 
rest, success depends on the man himself, or rather 



36 VIOLET FARMERS 

on what he has in him. The man who truly suc- 
ceeds in this work will succeed in almost any busi- 
ness, for all success really traces back to one thing, 
namely, ability to see, to grasp, and to utilize little 
things to the best advantage. Look after these, 
and the big ones will look after themselves. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SOIL 37 



CHAPTER II 



THE SOIL 



The soil forms the basis for all work in plant 
growth, and it is proper, therefore, that it should be 
discussed first. Violets will grow on almost any 
soil, but to obtain the best results it is necessary to 
pay attention to certain important characters of the 
soil, particularly those relating to its physical prop- 
erties. The importance of the relation of the 
physical properties of the soil, that is, texture, tem- 
perature and moisture, to plant growth is not fully 
appreciated. By texture is meant the character of 
the particles which make up the soil, while struc- 
ture has to do with the arrangement of these par- 
ticles and their relation to each other. The 
particles or grains of which soils are composed vary 
greatly in size, and to distinguish them they have 
received certain conventional names, such as clay, 
fine silt, silt, fine sand, sand, etc. The clay par- 
ticles are extremely minute, silt grains are larger, 
and so on until we have coarse sand or gravel, with 
grains 1-25 to 1-12 of an inch in diameter. Upon 
the amounts of the various constituents, i. e., clay, 
fine silt, silt, fine sand, etc., depends the porosity of 



38 soil 

the soil, the readiness with which the air penetrates 
it and water moves through it, its water-holding 
capacity, and finally its temperature.* 

By varying the texture of the soil its water 
content is varied, its capacity for heat is modified, 
and so on until every important factor, including 
food in the ordinary acceptance of the word, is in- 
volved. To these variations the plant adapts it- 
self, and the result may be extensive leaf develop- 
ment with few or no flowers, or vice versa, a weak- 
ened condition of the tissues (making the plant sub- 
ject to the attacks of enemies, especially fungi), 
and so on through a list of other possibilities. To 
illustrate more fully, we may say that in our experi- 
ence the Lady Hume Campbell violet seems to 
thrive best on relatively light soil, that is, a soil 
which contains a comparatively small amount of 
clay. The Marie Louise, on the other hand, does 
best with more clay, or, in other words, a heavier 
soil. The violet soils of the Poughkeepsie region 
contain from eight to fifteen per cent, of clay, and 
it is here that the highest success is attained with 
this particular variety. In parts of Maryland and 
Virginia, where the Campbell violet is grown ex- 
tensively, the soils frequently contain six to eight 
per cent, of clay, so that it will be seen that there 
is considerable difference as regards the structure 



* Galloway, B. T., Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture for 
1895, p. 250. 



TEXTURE 39 

of the two classes of soils. It follows, of course, 
that where soils showing so much difference in 
structure are used, the plants in each case have 
different sets of factors to which they must adapt 
themselves, and in doing this they may be so 
modified as to affect materially the development of 
the flowers. 

Soils of both the heavy and moderately heavy 
types are found in many places, and if they do not 
occur naturally, the desired effects may be approxi- 
mated by combinations of light and heavy soils. 
We have never found it satisfactory to lighten heavy 
soil by mixing in sand alone. This takes away the 
life of the soil, and plants never succeed so well in 
it as when the desired conditions are produced by 
mixing a heavy and a light soil. For example, we 
may have in one part of a field a soil containing 
fifteen to twenty per cent, of clay, and in another 
one containing four or five per cent. By mixing 
these two soils in equal proportion a combination is 
effected which, other conditions being equal, will 
prove better for violets than either soil used alone. 

Of course, it must be remembered that the con- 
ditions for plants under glass are different from 
those out-of-doors. Outside, the plant has to take 
what it can get in the way of water, air, and other 
important conditions for growth, while inside these 
are, in a measure, made to order by the grower him- 
self. It follows, therefore, that even where the soil is 



40 SOIL 

not what it should be, the grower has it within his 
power, to a large extent, to overcome the difficulties 
by a proper manipulation of the surroundings. 

This question of the structure of the soil and 
its relation to plant growth is a rather difficult one 
to explain in words. The practical grower learns 
by experience how to judge a soil largely by its 
appearance and its " feel " when taken in the hand. 
The facts given in regard to the effects of structure 
of soil on plant growth, therefore, help a novice by 
acquainting him with matters he ought to know, but 
they will not show him what he can do, for experi- 
ence alone can teach him this. Any soil that will 
grow a good crop of potatoes will, with proper 
manuring, grow good violets. This means that the 
soil should be moderately heavy loam, that it should 
not pack or puddle readily, and that it should con- 
tain plenty of fibrous material, which can be ob- 
tained by using good turf or sod. 

We prefer in all cases to use good sod or turf, 
cutting this not more than three or four inches 
thick. Where land is plentiful, that is, where the 
grower has several acres at his disposal, it will be 
best to keep part of it constantly in grass. Blue 
grass, white clover and redtop make a good mixture. 
For every bushel of blue grass seed use one quart of 
white clover and one third bushel of redtop. Coarse 
grasses, like orchard grass and timothy, should be 
avoided, as the stems and heavy roots are sources 



HANDLING 4 1 

of annoyance in handling the soil. Where one has 
land that can be spared he should allow for every 
thousand plants not less than one-twentieth of an 
acre in grass upon which he can depend for soil. 
The soil, after being used, can be hauled out, and 
after being spread on the ground be reseeded, and 
in six or eight years will probably be as good as new. 
In the majority of cases it is necessary to purchase 
the soil, and this is usually done through contract- 
ors, and sometimes from farmers who have the sod 
to spare. It is customary to pay from seventy-five 
cents to one dollar per cubic yard for good sod cut 
three or four inches thick and delivered on the place. 
A cubic yard contains twenty-seven cubic feet; that 
is, a pile one foot high, three feet wide and nine feet 
long. More often, the soil is bought merely by the 
"load," a load being usually about a cubic yard — 
sometimes a little more, sometimes less. Seventy- 
five cents to one dollar per load is the price usually 
paid for soil. 

Some prefer to stack the soil, that is, to cut it 
and pile it in a heap in the early Fall; but this is not 
always practicable; hence very often the work is 
left till Spiing. On the whole, we can see no ad- 
vantage in the early Fall stacking, unless it can be 
done during a time when work is not pressing. 
Where practicable, our preference is to cut the sod 
in the Fall and allow it to stand in the field unpiled 
until it has been frozen hard three or four times. 



42 SOIL 

In this way grubs, nematodes, and the larvae of 
many insects are killed, and at the same time 
benefit is derived from the effects of the frost on 
the mechanical and chemical condition of the 
soil. Before hard Winter weather sets in the 
soil should be either hauled close to the greenhouse 
and piled, or else made into a heap where it stands. 
In sections where the soil is not from limestone 
formation, fresh slaked lime should be added to 
it when it is being put into the heap, or directly 
after cutting. Lime should be added at the rate 
of about two-thirds of a bushel for each one thou- 
sand square feet cut. In stacking the soil we pre- 
fer to make a heap about four feet high, twenty to 
twenty-five feet wide, and of any length desired. 
At this time the manure, which should have been 
previously procured, and put into good condition, 
is to be added to the soil. As a rule, one part of 
manure to four parts of soil will make a combina- 
tion sufficiently rich for any purpose. This is 
assuming, of course, that the manure is well rotted 
and free from light chaff and straw. Well-rotted 
cow manure is preferable, if it can be obtained; 
but if not, well-rotted and carefully handled horse 
manure will answer equally as well. Avoid all 
experimenting with chemical fertilizers. They are 
well enough in their place, and in the hands of one 
who has had experience no harm will result from 
the use of a little pure, ground, undissolved bone, 



MIXING 



43 



but it must be pure, and applied at the rate of not 
more than one-half bushel for each one thousand 
plants. The bone should be mixed with the soil 




7- — Mixing soil. Spreading manure in layers between the soil 

when the heap is being made. When a cart and 
horse are at hand we prefer to use them in making 
the heap. Four loads of soil, each a cubic yard, 



44 



SOIL 



are hauled and spread, and then a load of manure 
is added and spread over the soil. This is con- 
tinued until the first layer of the heap is of the 




8. — Mixing soil. Breaking and pulverizing the sod preparatory 
to putting it down with layers oj manure 

desired width and length, when a second layer is 
formed in the same way. After finishing each layer 
the bone meal may be sown thinly over the sur- 



MIXING 45 

face. Put it on about as thick as is done in sanding 
or sawdusting a floor. Working in this way, two 
active men can put into a heap forty to fifty yards 
of soil a day, or a sufficient quantity for four thou- 
sand to five thousand plants, figuring that the 
beds contain six inches of fresh made soil, and that 
the manure and turf are one hundred to two hundred 
feet apart. It is seen, therefore, that each cubic 
yard of the mixture is sufficient for one hundred 
plants, allowing a depth of six inches for the beds. 
When soil is purchased, or even when it is ob- 
tained from one's own place, it is never exactly 
alike any two years. For this reason it is a good 
plan to experiment a little before the general mix- 
ing is commenced. It takes very little time to 
make up several lots of soil in different propor- 
tions, using a water pail to make the measure- 
ments. For instance, we have soil from two lo- 
calities, one of which is moderately heavy and the 
other light, and also well-rotted manure, which 
we make up in the following combinations: 

(i) Light soil, one part. 

Heavy soil, three parts. 
Manure, one part. 

(2) Light soil, two parts. 
Heavy soil, two parts. 
Manure, one part. 

(3) Light soil, two parts. 
Heavy soil, three parts. 
Manure, one part. 

(4) Heavy soil, four parts. 
Manure, one part. 



46 soil 

By using a pail, only small quantities of soil and 
manure are needed, but there will be sufficient ma- 
terial in each case after a thorough mixing to tell 
what the combinations look and feel like. It is al- 
ways best to allow the heaps to stand a week or two, 
for they often change their texture on standing, 
especially when lime is used. With a little practice 
one can soon determine in his own mind what com- 
binations suit him best, and then he will at least 
have a rational basis to work upon. 

Right here we may utter a word of warning 
against the growing practice of allowing the ex- 
perimenting mania to get the better of judgment. 
Some individuals are over-inquiring, and for this 
reason the temptation is to experiment continually, 
with the result that nothing succeeds, for the 
simple reason that one thing is not tried long enough 
to find out its real value. We find a grower trying 
first this, then that fertilizer or method, with the 
result that by and by he gives up in disgust, and 
says that his soil or his section is not suited to the 
crop he is attempting to grow. If he could only 
be brought to a realization of the fact that the 
trouble is not wholly in the soil or surroundings, 
but is partly in himself, he would soon be on the 
road to success. We have known men to spend 
years of work in experimenting one way or another, 
and at the end of that time they would be little 
wiser than when they commenced. All this time 



MIXING 47 

the plants have been doctored with insecticides and 
fungicides, fed on many kinds of food, and in short 
made to run the whole gamut of crank and quack 
notions advertised from time to time. What is 
needed here is a mind cure for the individual and 
less doctoring for the plants. Experiment, of 
course, but do not be led away by it, and do not 
allow every new idea or suggestion to take you from 
the main purpose or to bias your judgment. 

To return from our digression, the soil, when 
heaped, should be protected by rough boards or by 
some other means from rains. Much benefit will 
result if the soil is turned two or three times before 
it is taken into the houses. Many omit this, but 
we are convinced that it pays to turn it, as this im- 
proves its condition in many ways. The cost will 
not exceed fifty cents per thousand plants for each 
turning. Reference has been made to the quantity 
of soil used, but it is desirable to enter somewhat 
into detail upon this point. We aim to put in six 
inches of fresh soil every year. Plants may do well 
on less or even on the soil that has been used once, 
but the grower who is in the business for all there is 
to be made out of it cannot afford to run any risks; 
hence he should calculate on not less than six inches 
of new soil each year. To determine then how much 
soil is necessary, merely multiply the length of each 
bed in feet and inches by the width, and multiply 
this by one-half. This will give the number of cubic 



48 



SOIL 



feet, and as there are twenty-seven cubic feet in a 
cubic yard, the number of cubic feet, divided by 
twenty-seven, will give the number of cubic yards. 
For example, it has been our practice to have our 
beds numbered (these numbers are held constant 
from year to year) as follows: 

Bed No. i. 75 feet x 6 feet=450 square feet x Yi foot= 
225 cubic feet, or practically 8 cubic yards. 

Bed No. 2. 125 feet x 5 feet=62 5 square feet x 3^ foot = 
312 cubic feet-|-27=ii.4 yards. 

All the beds being numbered in this way it is an 
easy matter to tell just how much soil will be needed. 
Of course in considering the bulk as a whole the 
manure must be counted in, that is, if a total of one 
hundred yards of prepared soil is needed the manure 
will form one-fifth of this, or twenty yards. It 
will be necessary therefore to purchase eighty 
yards of soil proper, and twenty yards of manure 
for the mixture. The cost of manure will, of 
course, depend on many circumstances, but in the 
vicinity of cities it can seldom be bought for less 
than seventy-five cents a cubic yard, or about two 
dollars and a half for a two-horse wagon load. 

The foregoing statements in regard to soil, 
mixing, etc., are based upon the supposition that 
the grower is near a city, where land is high, and 
that his work is on an intensive plan, and further, 
that the plants are grown where they stand and not 
planted in the field and then moved in. No man 



PROPER SOIL CONDITIONS 49 

who is in the business to compete with the best growers 
can afford to run the risk of growing his plants in 
the field and moving them into houses. From the 
time the cutting is made until the old plant is 
thrown away the work is or should be entirely 
under glass. 

Where violet farming is practiced, i. e., where 
land is plentiful and the crop is grown in frames, 
it is customary in some sections merely to plow up 
a fresh piece of sod each year or every two or three 
years and move the frames. We do not recommend 
this practice and believe that it pays to bring the 
soil into heaps and mix it as described even if it is 
to be used in frames. The more the soil is handled 
the better, providing of course the work is not done 
when there is too much moisture present. Never 
allow a shovel to touch the soil when the latter is 
wet, for irreparable injury can be done at such a 
time. Wait until the soil is mealy and never handle 
it when it is pasty and putty-like to the touch. It 
must be remembered that the soil is not a dead, inert 
mass, but is an exceedingly complicated material — 
an active working laboratory, teeming with life and 
performing functions which we as yet understand 
imperfectly. Fortunate is the man who knows 
enough to appreciate this fact and to let the soil 
alone when, by so doing, its wonderful mechanism 
is brought into play for the best use of the plants 
it sustains. 



50 HOUSES 



CHAPTER III 



CONSTRUCTION AND HEATING OF HOUSES 
AND FRAMES 

CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES 

Probably more makeshifts in the way of houses 
for growing violets have been used in this country 
than for any other crop. The evolution of this part 
of the work has been exceptionally slow, so that it 
is difficult to find at this time a thoroughly modern 
establishment in every way. Ordinary cold frames 
were first used; then in order to get at the plants 
in bad weather a pit was made so as to obtain head 
room and still utilize the sashes and keep the plants 
near the glass. Gradually growers began to get 
their plants above ground and to increase the 
amount of head room and air space by raising the 
sashes above the beds. Many houses are still 
made on this plan, while a comparatively few are 
built with stationary sash bars and permanent 
glass roof. There are no special advantages in 
making a house of sashes, except in certain cases, 
which will be mentioned later. Such houses can- 
not be made wind- or water-tight, and as a rule are 




<4> 



to 

o 






O 



52 



HOUSES 



so full of wood as to be unnecessarily dark. When 
it was considered necessary to take the glass off in 




io. — House twelve feet wide, six feet to ridge; side ventilators of 

glass. This is one oj a block of five bouses, each 

seventy-five feel long 

Summer, sashes, of course, were an important item, 
for they could easily be removed and stored until 
wanted in the Fall. If one intends to make a 







.ft, 

bo 
S 



bo 

s 

=5 



6" S> 

be 

S o 

to Li^ 



• ~ <" 






<3 </; 

*■* C 

nT 8 
to 
3 
o 

£ 

a 
a, 



£ 



54 HOUSES 

permanent house we by all means recommend the 
fixed roof, with ventilators and other necessary 
adjuncts arranged as we shall now proceed to 
describe. 

All things considered, our preference is for 
even-span houses running north and south. The 
violet does not thrive well under glaring sunlight. 
It needs light, but this should be softened and dif- 
fused in order to insure the best results in the growth 
and the size and color of the flowers. The three- 
quarter span house facing south is apt to be too 
bright, and if heavy shading is resorted to it is ef- 
fective in bright weather, but makes it too dark 
when cloudy. Economy in space and economy in 
building, furthermore, can be attained by adopting 
the even-span north and south style of house. In 
our work we have made it a point to keep a careful 
record not only of the flowers from each kind of 
house, but from each bed in a house. These records, 
kept from year to year, furnish interesting informa- 
tion and enable one who is looking to every detail 
to make changes that will result to his advantage. 
The three-quarter span house facing south, in our 
case never gave as many flowers per square foot 
of bed space, by twenty to twenty-five per cent., as 
the even-span houses running north and south. 

When capital and space are limited we know 
of no better style of house than a narrow, plain, 
even span, built on the ridge and furrow plan (see 







S 



toe 
O 



C3 



6«5 



C S 

«u is 





toe 

S 


3 


o 


,^ 


2 


u 


~ 


4j 




-*- 


«a 




£ 


<U 













u 


~ 




~a 


^J 


o 


3 


-c- 




c 


u 


-c 


= 


S 




^ 




ft 





£ 



S 6 



HOUSES 



Fig. 21), and running north and south. The length 
may be from seventy-five to one hundred and 
fifty feet. 




*3- — Shed at north end of houses, shoiving method of construction. 
Shed has glass roof 

Our preference is for houses one hundred feet 
long, twelve feet wide, seven feet to the ridge from 
the bottom of the walk, and two feet eight inches 



CONSTRUCTION 



57 



high on the sides above ground level (see Fig. 10). 
Where the amount of ground is limited these houses 
may be built together — two, three, five, or seven, as 
the case may be — without intervening walls. A, the 




14. — Inierior of shed shown in Figure 13. Propagating bench 

on the right, supply pipes (two-incti) on the left, shed 

eight feet wide 

north end of the houses and running the entire 
length across the ends there should be a lean-to shed 
eight feet wide and provided with a glass roof slop- 
ing to the north. Against the north wall may be 



58 



HOUSES 



placed a propagating bed three and one-half feet 
wide, leaving four and one-half feet clear space for 
a walk and entrance to each house. If more than 




i 5. — Roofs of twelve-foot houses, showing method of construction 

and of attaching ventilators; one row of glass between 

the ventilators 

six houses are in the block, the boiler should be 
placed near the center in a pit dug beneath the 
shed. If necessary, of course, the entire space 



CONSTRUCTION 59 

beneath the shed may be devoted to coal, a work- 
shop, and perhaps a place for tools. If the number 
of houses is three or less, the boiler may be placed 
at one end of the shed in a pit, as already described. 
The end selected should depend upon the general 
slope of the land, the object being to get the boiler 
at the lowest point. Following is a detailed state- 
ment in regard to the points to consider in this type 
of house: 

Length, one hundred feet, with one foot fall to carry 
off water. 

Inside width, twelve feet. 

Height to ridge from bottom of walk, seven feet. 

Height of side from top of plate to bottom of gutter, 
twenty inches (see Figure 27). 

Walls below plates to be boarded up with rough lum- 
ber first, then covered with rustic siding (see Figure 27). 

Number of walks, one in each house, placed in the center. 

Width of walk, fourteen inches. 

Depth of walk, twelve inches. 

Number of beds, two. 

Width of each bed, five feet five inches. 

Depth of beds, twelve inches. 

Posts in outside walls, four by four inches sawed cedar, 
chestnut, or locust, set four feet apart center to cen- 
ter, and two and one-half feet in the ground. 

Posts in inside walls, four by four inches, set eight feet 
apart center to center, and two and one-half feet in 
the ground. 

Gutters, three piece, six inches in the clear, made of two- 
inch clear cypress (see Figure 21). 

Wall plates, two by eight inch clear cypress, to be notched 
around posts. 



6o HOUSES 

Gable plates for end of each house, two by eight inch clear 
cypress. 

Gable rafters, one and three-quarters by two and one- 
quarter inch clear cypress. 

Sash bars, clear cypress, one and one-quarter by two 
and one-halt" inches, with drip groove, all bars to 
extend from gutter to ridge. 

Rafters, two by four inch, clear cypress, to be set every 
sixteen feet. Rafters to take place of sash bar. 

Ridge (.with ridge cap\ two by six inches. 

Top ventilators, two by four feet, or made to cover three 
rows of glass sel fifteen inches, including sash bars. 
One row of glass to be left between the ventilators. 

Headers to be placed under ventilator. 

Ventilators on side, two by four feet, continuous, and to 

lap on post one-half. 

Glass ten by fifteen inches, double thick, second quality, 
lapped and bedded in putty. Glass set fifteen inch 

South ends of houses glass, with exception of door, which 
should be four feet wide so as to admit a wheelbarrow 
readily. 

\ :h ends of houses opening into shed to be made of 
tongue and groove pine, with doors the same s 
those on south end. 

Walls of shed to be made of rustic siding nailed to tu 

four studs set eighteen inches apart. Inside of shed 
to be lined with tongue and groove yellow pine. 

\\ all plate of shed, two by six yellow pine. 

Top plate of shed, same as wall plate. 

Doors in north wall of shed, four feet wide, opening 
opposite doors in north end of fc 

sts for sides of beds, two by four hem set four 

feet apart, and wired to opposite posts or to stakes to 
prevent spreading. Set wires ten inches below top of 
bed 

Sides of bed. one by twelve inch hemlock boards nailed 
to outside of the two by four p« s - 



CONSI RUC1 ION 



6i 



tieating pipes, black wrought iron screw joints, inn 
one and one-half inch Hows for each house and ten 
one and one-quarter inch returns (five on nch side 




16. — A twelve-foot house, showing method o] constructing <nul 
attaching side ventilators 

of house). Pipes run so that the highesl point, in- 
cluding expansion tank, is directly over the boiler. 
Flow and returns in ;ill houses to have the same fall, 
i. e., about one inch lor every ten feet of pipe. 



62 HOUSES 

To feed five houses of the size here given (twelve by 
one hundred feet), it will be necessary to run out 
two two and one-half inch pipes from the boiler, 
allowing one pipe to feed the two houses on the west 
and one to feed the three on the east. The west is given 
the advantage on account of the greater exposure. 

Top ventilators operated by plain lifting rods with holes 
and pins to give a four to sixteen inch opening. 

The accompanying illustrations will make plain 
the points mentioned. 

The second type of house, which will require 
more ground and capital, is also even-span, running 
north and south, but with a space of eight feet 
between the houses. Following are the principal 
features of this style of house: 

Length of house, one hundred feet, with one foot fall 
to carry off water. 

Width of shed at north end, ten feet. 

Width of house inside, twenty-four feet. 

Height of walls from top of plate to bottom of gutter, 
twenty inches. Plate to be twelve inches above 
grade (see Figure 27). 

Walls below plate to be boarded up with rough lumber 
and then covered with rustic siding (see Figure 27). 

Height of house inside from top of center bed to bot- 
tom of ridge, nine feet. 

Number of walks, two. 

Width of walks, each fourteen inches. 

Number of beds, three. 

Width of center bed, ten feet ten inches. 

Width of side beds, each five feet five inches. 

Depth of beds, twelve inches. 

Posts in side walls, sawed cedar, chestnut, or locust, 
four by four inches, set four feet apart center to 
certer and two and one-half feet in the ground. 



CONSTRUCTION 63 

Gutters, three piece cypress, six inches in the clear tsee 

Figure 21). 
Plates, two by eight inches, clear cypress, cut to fit around 

posts and to receive bottom of ventilator. 
Gable plates at ends of house, two by eight inches clear 

cypress. 

Gable rafters, one and three-quarters by two and one- 
quarter inches clear cypress. 

Purlins, one inch black pipe, run under each slope five 

feet nine inches from ridge. 
Supports for purlins, one inch pipe, long enough to extend 

through bed and into cement block in the ground. 

Support for ridge, one and one-quarter inch black pipe, 
placed eight feet apart and set the same as supports 
under purlins. 

Iron posts, to be attached to purlins by T's one and 
one-quarter inch through, so as to slip over pur- 
lin pipe, with one inch side to take support. 

Sash bars, clear cypress, one and one-quarter by two 
and one-half inches, with drip groove, all bars to 
extend from gutter to ridge. 

Rafters, none. 

Ridge, clear cypress, two by six inches, with ridge cap. 

Top ventilators on both sides, each ventilator two by 
four feet, or long enough to cover three sash bars 
and glass, leaving one row of glass between each 
two ventilators, headers under ventilators. 

Ventilators on sides, two by four feet, continuous, and 
made to lap on posts. 

Ventilator-raising apparatus for top and sides consisting 
of geared wheels, shaft, arms, and rods. 

Glass, ten by fifteen inches, double thick, second quality, 
lapped, and bedded in putty. Glass set fifteen inch 
way. 

Posts for supporting sides of beds, two by four inch hem- 
lock, set four feet apart and wired to opposite posts to 
prevent bed from spreading. 

Sides of beds, one inch hemlock or cypress, nailed to 
outside of posts. 



64 HOUSES 

Heating pipes, black wrought iron and screw joint, to be 
run so that the highest point is directly over the 
boiler. 

Flow pipe, two and one-half inches, to be carried directly 
under the ridge and to fall to south end about one 
inch in every ten feet. 

Returns, twelve one and one-half inch pipes, to fall one 
inch in ten feet from south to north end, two pipes 
to be carried over center bed and five along each wall. 
This will give sufficient radiating surface to maintain 
with hot water an inside temperature of fifty degrees 
F. with an outside temperature at zero and no wind 
blowing. Plugged openings should be left for at 
least four additional returns so as to be on the safe 
side. This can be done with very little additional ex- 
pense and may be worth a good many dollars at some 
future time. 

As many houses as may be desired can be built after 
this plan, all connecting at the north end with the 
shed having a slope running to the north, the same 
as described for the first style of house. It is best 
to leave at least eight feet between each two houses 
to facilitate ventilation, the taking out of plants 
and soil, clearing off the snow from the roofs, and 
other necessary work. 



HEATING 

So much for the main points involved in the 
construction of the two principal styles of houses. 
In the matter of heating we have considered only 
hot water, as we believe it has advantages over 
steam in growing violets. A proper boiler is of the 
utmost importance — so important, in fact, that the 
most careful consideration should be given to its 
selection. Notwithstanding all that has been writ- 
ten on heating it is a fact that nearly every man who 



CONSTRUCTION AND HEATING 



6 5 



goes into greenhouse work is dissatisfied until he has 
spent a good deal 0/ money and time in experimenting 
on this feature. Experience obtained in this way 
is sometimes dearly bought and it pays better to 
take the advice of others who have gone over the 




1 7. — Fastening pipes 
posts by tin clips 



to 18. — Fastening pipes to 

posts by bent-wire nails 



same ground and have reached conclusions that 
will apply to your case. 

Boiler makers, under the stimulus of competi- 
tion, have in many cases wandered away from the 
simple principles that must be considered in making 
an economical, efficient apparatus. In our experi- 
ence with boilers we have never found any that 
would fill all requirements so nearly as one of sim- 



66 



HOUSES 



pie construction, giving the largest possible amount 
of direct heating surface, and offering the least re- 
sistance to the movement of the water, and a fire box 




19. — Interior 0/ twelve-foot bouse, showing method of con- 
structing south end and door 

deep|and[bigfenough to carry a large amount of 
fuel at slow combustion. 

There is no economy in curtailing the size of 



CONSTRUCTION AND HEATING 



67 



the fire box and adding sections, which at best can 
only receive the hot gases. In order to get the 
full service out of such a boiler it will be necessary 




20. — Interior of bouse, showing method of connecting flow pipe 
ivitb four returns 

to carry a hot fire, and as a result a large percentage 
of the heat goes up the chimney. Boilers, there- 
fore, should be selected with due regard to (1) the 



68 



HOUSES 




CONSTRUCTION AND HEATING 



69 



amount of direct heating surface, (2) perpendicular 
circulation of the water in the boiler, (3) the ca- 
pacity for fuel, and (4) conveniences in the matter of 



% 


P .-,< . 3 . '■'.. -I '"**.- „:,,.. J: ■■ ':,»iSf 






HE « 


* "" *s" %fe * N ** 





22. — Interior construction. Method of connecting returns of 
hot water pipes at north end of house 

suitable grates, drafts, and doors. Most boilers are 
rated on the number of square feet of pipe they 
will heat. As a rule, at least twenty-five per cent. 




4> 

-T3 



bo 






-a o 



3 


3 


<ao 


u 












-8i 


fc 


a 





T3 


w 


c 


H 


»Q 




<u 


!»J 


*- 


k 


< 


<U 








3 


u 


60 


< 


«tf 


i3 


«j 


o 


a 


«Q 


S»J 


9J 


. n 




c/i 


bt 


*- 


K 


O 






'j- 


a 






■m 


c 


o 


=r 




o> 


C 


~ 















o 




3 




k 








>i 




K 









O 





CONSTRUCTION AND HEATING Jl 

margin should be allowed on these figures in order 
to be on the safe side. For example, if a boiler is 
rated to heat one thousand square feet of pipe it 
should not have more than seven hundred or seven 
hundred and fifty feet put upon it. It may heat the 
thousand feet at a pinch, but the grower wants it to 
heat the pipe at all times with a slow fire that will 
stand without attention at least six or seven hours. 
The saddle, conical, and locomotive types of 
boilers are probably as efficient as any we now have, 
and by taking any one of these and fitting it up 
with the modern improvements in the way of deep 
fire box, grates, ash-pit, door and flue drafts, and 
dampers, it would, in all probability, do the work 
more economically and efficiently than a large num- 
ber of the intricate forms now on the market. There 
is the keenest competition among boiler makers, and 
as a rule, they are to be commended for the great 
energy they show in endeavoring to adapt their 
apparatus to the demands of the trade. Prices are 
so close that every additional ounce of iron counts, 
and for this reason it would seem to be the part 
of wisdom to simplify construction as much as pos- 
sible. It is a matter of theoretical calculation to 
determine what each section will do when added 
to a boiler. In practice, however, it is frequently 
found that each section beyond reach of direct fire 
contact utterly fails to do what in theory it ought 
to accomplish. Good boilers made by responsible 



72 



HOUSES 




be 



be 






o 

-Q 






CONSTRUCTION AND HEATING 



73 



firms are within the reach of all nowadays and it 
hardly pays, therefore, to attempt to make them 
out of coils of pipe. By the time the pipe is pur- 




25. — House twenty-Jour feet wide; posts set and shed at north 
end built first 

chased, put together, and bricked up, and the doors, 
grates, drafts, and other necessary conveniences ob- 
tained, the cost is nearly as great as when a first- 



74 



HOUSES 



class boiler, ready to set up and start off, is pur- 
chased. 

$.s to the cost of boilers, it may be said that 




26. — Constructing house twenty-Jour feet wide; second step, 
making beds and walks 

for every five hundred square feet of pipe it will 
cost at least seventy-five dollars for boiler capacity 
to heat it, or roughly, fifteen dollars for every 



CONSTRUCTION AND HEATING 



75 



hundred square feet of heating surface. There- 
fore, to heat a house such as described, namely, 
twelve by one hundred feet and seven feet to ridge, 




27. — Constructing house tuenty-Jour feet ivide; third step, run- 
ning gutters and notching plate around posts 

the boiler would cost seventy-five to one hundred 
dollars. For each additional house of the same 
length joined to the next, without partition walls, 



76 HOUSES 

an additional fifty-five dollars should be added for 
boiler capacity. To heat a house one hundred feet 
long and twenty-four feet wide, such as described 
as the second type, would require a boiler costing 
one hundred and twenty-five dollars at the least. 
For each additional house separated from the other 
by an alley of eight feet, it would require seventy- 
five dollars additional for boiler capacity. When 
the amount of pipe to heat exceeds twenty-five 
hundred square feet it is best to have more than one 
boiler — in fact, it is a question whether it is not best 
in all cases to have boilers so arranged that there is 
a reserve on hand for emergencies, which may arise 
at any time. It is also a question as to whether 
it would not pay to have a night fireman in all cases 
where the number of plants exceeds ten thousand 
or thereabout. 

This brings us to a consideration of the total 
cost of houses similar in type in most of the details 
to those described. It is of the utmost importance, 
from a business point of view, to consider every 
factor carefully, making provision also for future 
extensions if need be. 

The following estimates were supplied by the 
courtesy of the John C. Moninger Co., Chicago, and 
are based upon the length and width of houses as 
stated. Those who contemplate building would, 
of course, make application to greenhouse builders 
for a definite estimate before starting operations. 



CONSTRUCTION 77 

SEMI- IRON CONSTRUCTION 
Material for the construction of one greenhouse* 
24 ft. x 100 ft., 2 glass gables, 1 single door, 16 in. Glass, 
lapped, 3 ft. 6 in. walls. 

LIST OF WOODWORK 

2 runs ioo ft., gutter $52.50 

I run 100 ft ridge and cap 8.58 

21 lineal ft glass sill for one 

end 1 .07 

200 lineal ft sash sill Q.08 

200 lineal ft sash hanging rail.. 5.82 

1 single sash door and frame 6. 50 

75 lineal ft gable end bars 2.40 

4 pes. 14 ft gable rafters 2.88 

144 pes. 14 ft roof sash bars. ... 51.26 

24 ventilators 23.60 

24 seat strips, 48 weather strips 9-4° 

4 corner casings 1 -6o 

2 runs side sash 100 ft 28.20 

42 sash dividing strips 3«*9 

VENTILATOR LIFTER, FOR ROOF VENTS 

2 complete machines 24.00 

48 complete lifters 12.00 

38 hangers 3>8o 

200 ft. shafting 14.00 

HINGES FOR ROOF VENTS 

36 prs. hinges for roof vents 4-3 2 

44 prs. hinges for side sashes 5- 2 ^ 

HARDWARE FOR DOORS 

I Y 2 prs. hinges \ g 3 

1 set latches ) 

NAILS 

AH necessary galvanized nails, not including benches . . . 4.00 



78 HOUSES 



GLASS 

68 bxs. 16 in. x 18 in. D. S. A. hand made glass $224.40 

PUTTY 

300 lbs. strictly pure greenhouse putty 10.50 

GLAZING POINTS 

7 lbs. galv. glazing points 91 

WOOD POSTS FOR GABLE ENDS AND POST BLOCKING FOR 

WALLS 

4 pes. 4 in. x 4 in. x 5 ft. cypress posts, rough 1 .00 

40 pes. 4 in. x 4 in. x 7 ft. cypress posts, rough 14.00 

PURLINS, FITTINGS AND PURLIN SUPPORTS SPACED 9 FT. 

2 runs 100 ft., galv. pipe purlin 12.00 

20 pes. galv. pipe cut 7 ft. 6 in. pinned 6.00 

20 sets galv. steel tees pinned 2.40 

4 purlin end bearers 40 

144 pes. galv. pipe strap 1 .80 

SHEATHING 

400 ft. i in. x 8 in. D. & M. cypress 14.40 

400 ft. 1 in. x 6 in. cypress drop siding 14.40 

1 roll parchment paper 1.75 

PAINT MATERIALS 

12 gals, paint for two-coat work. . ) 

3 gals, boiled linseed oil ?■ 27.00 

1 gal. turpentine J 

VENTILATOR LIFTER 

(For Side Sash) 

2 complete machines 24.00 

44 complete lifters 11 .00 

40 hangers 4.00 

200 ft. shafting 14.00 



CONSTRUCTION 79 

PECKY CYPRESS BEDS 

600 ft. i in. x 12 in. side pieces in 4 ft. multiples $1 5.00 

1 56 pes. 2 in. x 4 in. x 2 ft. stakes 5 5 .20 

AH woodwork, unless otherwise specified, made of clear, air- 
dried, Louisiana red cypress, guaranteed free from sap or 
defects and smoothly machined. All material cut to fit as far 
as possible at factory and furnished ready to set in place to- 
gether with complete plans. 

No material for boiler shed is included, as this cost 
can be best ascertained by the local carpenter. The erection 
complete, including the installation of the heating system, 
will cost about $250. 

Material for the construction of one greenhouse 
12 ft. x 100 ft., 1 glass gable, 1 single door, 16 in. glass, 
lapped, 3 ft. 6 in. walls. 



CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL 

2 runs 100 ft gutter $52.50 

1 run 100 ft ridge 5.77 

9 lineal ft glass sill for sides 

and ends 40 

200 lineal ft sash sill 9.08 

200 lineal ft sash hanging rail. 5.82 

1 single sash door and frame 6.50 

25 lineal ft gable end bars 78 

144 pes. 7 ft roof sash bars. . . . 27.07 

1 2 ventilators 11 .80 

12 seat strips 5.90 

4 corner casings 1 .60 

2 runs side sash 28.20 

42 sash dividing strips 3.19 

4 pes. 7 ft gable rafters 1.48 



VENTILATOR LIFTER FOR ROOF VENTS 

i complete machine 12.00 

24 complete lifters 6.00 

19 hangers 1 .90 

100 ft. shafting 7.00 



80 HOUSES 

HINGES FOR ROOF VENTS 

1 8 prs. hinges for roof vents $2.16 

44 prs. hinges for side sash 5.28 

NAILS 

AH necessary galv. nails, not including benches 4.00 

GLASS 

36 bxs. 16 in. x 18 in. D. S. A. hand made glass 1 18.80 

PUTTY 

1 50 lbs. strictly pure greenhouse putty 5.25 

GLAZING POINTS 

4 lbs. galv. glazing points 60 

WOOD POSTS FOR GABLE ENDS AND WALLS 

2 pes. 4 in. x 4 in. x 5 ft. cypress posts, rough 50 

40 pes. 4 in. x 4 in. x 7 ft. cypress posts, rough 14.00 

SHEATHING 

375 ft. cypress, 1 in. x 8 in., D. & M 13-50 

375 ft. cypress drop siding, 1 in. x 6 in 13-50 

1 roll parchment paper 1.75 

PAINT MATERIAL 

7 gals, paint for two-coat work. . . ) 

2 gals, boiled linseed oil r 17.00 

1 gal. turpentine ) 

VENTILATOR LIFTER 

(For Side Sash) 

2 complete machines 24.00 

44 complete lifters 11 .00 

40 hangers 4.00 

200 ft. shafting 14.00 



CONSTRUCTION 8 1 



PECKY CYPRESS BEDS 

2 beds, 4 ft. 6 in. x ioo ft., i ft. high. 

200 ft. i in. x 12 in. sides rough, in 4 ft. multiples $5.00 

52 pes. 2 in. x 4 in. x 2 ft. stakes i-75 

AH woodwork, unless otherwise specified, made of clear, 
air-dried, Louisiana red cypress, guaranteed free from sap 
or defects and smoothly machined. All material cut to fit as 
far as possible at the factory and furnished ready to set in 
place, together with complete plans. 

No material for shed included, as this cost can be 
best ascertained by local carpenter. The complete cost of 
erection for this house, including installation of heating sys- 
tem, will be about $150. 

We have already referred to houses made of 
sashes. For certain purposes, houses of this kind 
will be found very useful, and it is important, 
therefore, to have sashes on hand. Sash houses 
can be erected quickly and can be taken down when 
necessary and the sashes themselves stored. A 
sash house is particularly valuable for wintering 
cuttings and taking care of them when made in 
Spring. Furthermore, a house of this kind will 
be found very useful for growing reserve plants 
during the Summer. It is always important to 
have on hand a supply of good plants to transplant 
where others are lost from the main houses. A 
sash house, constructed with open sides and ends, 
can be used for growing plants, and the latter will 
in such cases do much better than when grown in 
frames or in the open air. In the Spring, more- 



82 HOUSES 

over, when the main houses become crowded with 
boxes of cuttings, the sash house will be found 
exceedingly valuable for storing the flats of young 
plants. In such cases comparatively little heat is 
required owing to the lateness of the season. The 
young plants are at all times within reach, so that 
they can be kept clean and fumigated with gas if 
it is found necessary to do so. 

For houses of this character, sashes of a size 
3 ft. by 6 ft. are advantageous. Such sashes made 
of white pine or cypress can be bought complete, 
that is, glazed and with two coats of paint, for 
two to three dollars each. The woodwork neces- 
sary for the construction of such a house would 
cost comparatively little. Ordinarily, in con- 
structing a house of this kind two beds are first 
made, with a walk fourteen inches wide between 
them. These beds are made of twelve-inch Hem- 
lock boards, which are nailed to two- by three-inch 
Hemlock posts set four feet apart. In order to 
keep the boards in place the Hemlock posts are 
driven six to eight inches in the ground and then 
wired to opposite posts or to sticks driven down 
for the purpose. The total width of such a house 
should be ten feet, including the path. The path 
being fourteen inches wide, there is left on each 
side a bed four feet live inches wide. To support 
the sashes, uprights, made of two by four Hemlock 
studs, are nailed to the outside boards of the frame. 




o 
3 







o 

3 



ft 

o 






o 



o 



00 
M 



84 FRAMES 

These uprights are placed about six feet apart and 
should project two feet above the frame. After 
being set in this way and nailed to the boards, the 
tops should be sawed at the same slant or pitch the 
roof is to have. A two by three stud is then nailed 
to the tops of the posts for a plate and upon this the 
ends of the sash are allowed to rest. The sashes 
are simply brought together at the top and nailed, 
no ridge being required. They are also nailed at 
the bottom and no further support is necessary. 

Where the house is intended for late Spring and 
Summer use it is of course not necessary to provide 
for ventilation, as plenty of air is always circulat- 
ing through the sides and ends, which are left open. 
For cuttings in the Spring, however, where some 
heat is necessary, the sides and ends must be closed 
up. This can be done by means of rough pine or 
Hemlock boards, over which may be nailed, on the 
outside, tarred paper. The ends may be closed in 
the same way, leaving a door at one end for en- 
trance. In such cases it is necessary to effect ven- 
tilation to loosen about every third sash and hinge 
it at the top. Pieces of leather can be used for the 
hinges and each sash may be raised and propped 
with a stick. A house of this kind, sixty feet long, 
should have on each side four movable sashes for 
ventilating. The ventilating sashes should not 
come opposite each other, otherwise they cannot be 
hinged at the top. 




o 
3 

o 

o 



It 

o 



oo 



ON 

M 



86 FRAMES 

In order to heat a house of this kind for Spring 
use, run two one and one-quarter inch pipes down 
each side, to be fed by a one and one-half inch flow 
running under the ridge or down the sashes so as to 
get the proper fall. Such a house may be used 
for growing the violets through the season and is 
one of the most inexpensive that could be erected. 
In such a case, however, it will be necessary to run 
at least four one and one-quarter inch pipes down 
each side, the same to be fed by two one and one- 
half inch flows. 

Such a house for Spring use sixty feet in length, 
would cost approximately as follows: 

40 sashes, 3x6 feet, at $3.00 each $120.00 

Lumber for sides, ends, and beds 23.00 

Nails, hardware, etc 2.00 

Heating pipes and heating apparatus 5 5-°o 

Total $200.00 

As will be seen, this is a very cheap house, and 
will hold from forty to fifty thousand cuttings placed 
in flats. If planted in the ordinary way, i.e., eight 
by nine inches, it will hold about one thousand 
plants. For Summer use alone, that is, without 
heating apparatus, sides, or ends, the house can be 
erected for less than one hundred and twenty 
dollars. For growing plants in order to get flowers 
throughout the Winter the cost will be fully two 
hundred dollars, on account of the extra heating 
pipe needed. 



88 FRAMES 

If a shorter house than the one here described 
is wanted it is a comparatively easy matter to build 
it. A house thirty feet long would cost little more 
than half as much, so it will be seen that there are 
a number of advantages in having sashes for use in 
this way. 

CONSTRUCTION OF FRAMES 

The simplest form of structure for growing 
violets is the frame, which may be either cold or 
heated. Frames should be located on grounH that 
is well drained, and if possible should have some 
protection from north winds. It is customary to 
place them, when practicable, at the foot of a hill, 
but if this cannot be done it is desirable to have 
them on the windward side* of trees or some similar 
place where the north wind will not sweep over 
them. 

For violets the frames are ordinarily made on 
top of the ground, that is, it is best not to dig the 
ground out, for the reason that water is apt to 
accumulate around the roots, and the plants, in 
consequence, will suffer. Rough pine boards are 
used for constructing the frames. The back of the 
frame is usually made of a board twelve inches wide, 
while for the front a board eight inches wide is 
required. Frames always face the south, that is, 
they run east and west. The frames may be made 
either continuous or in sections. When continu- 



90 FRAMES 

ous, posts are driven into the ground and boards 
are nailed to them, so that the frame is just wide 
enough to take a sash six feet long. The length 
may be indefinite and will vary according to the 
surroundings and nature of the land. Ordinarily 
it is preferable to have several lengths of frames 
separated by six or eight feet rather than to have 
one long tier. After the boards have been erected 
they should be braced every six feet by a one-inch 
by three-inch strip sunk and nailed into the back 
and front boards level with the edge of each. 
Frames so constructed will cost about eighty to 
eighty-five or ninety cents per running foot. This 
is without mats or shutters for protecting the 
plants in very cold weather. 

Mats may be made of straw or burlaps, and 
shutters may be constructed of wood, or if not 
made into the size of the sashes themselves, ordinary 
twelve-foot boards can be used. For burlap mats 
or boards the additional cost of the frame will be 
twenty to twenty-five cents per running foot, which 
makes the total cost $1.10 to $1.15 per foot. 
Therefore a frame one hundred feet long, con- 
structed as described, with mats or boards for 
covering in cold weather, will cost approximately 
one hundred and ten to one hundred and fifteen 
dollars. Such a frame will hold about twelve 
hundred plants, so that the cost of space per plant 
in this case will be approximately ten and a half 




3 
O 



o 



o 
o 

-£2 



3 



5 

<^> 

a 






qi, 



92 FRAMES 

cents. As will be seen, this is the cheapest method 
for growing plants, and for this reason many adopt 
it in the beginning. There are so many disad- 
vantages in growing plants in frames, however, 
that they should not be used where it is possible 
to make a house. The disadvantages are referred 
to in detail in other places, so that it is not necessary 
to mention them here. 

The question of mats or of some means of pro- 
tection during excessively cold weather is of great 
importance, for unless such protection is given, the 
plants will be so severely frozen as to be made use- 
less. The backs and fronts of the frames must also 
be protected as soon as cold weather sets in. This 
is usually accomplished by banking up soil or ma- 
nure to within an inch or an inch and a half of the 
top of the frame. The most common practice for 
protecting the plants is using ordinary boards twelve 
inches wide and sixteen feet long. These are sim- 
ply laid on the frames when cold weather comes on 
and serve in a measure to exclude the frost. It is 
much work, however, to put these boards on and 
take them off, for this must be done promptly when- 
ever the conditions require change. Mats are 
somewhat more convenient and are used to a con- 
siderable extent in various parts of the country. 
The cheapest, and in some respects the best, form of 
mat is made of ordinary burlap quilted so as to 
hold between the two pieces about two inches of 



CONSTRUCTION 93 

straw. The mats are ordinarily made of what is 
known as twelve ounce burlaps, forty-five inches 
wide, which costs about six to eight cents a yard. 
The straw between the tackings of the mat is about 
two inches thick, but where the tackings are made 
it is only about half an inch thick, as the string is 
pulled tight and tied in a square knot to prevent 
all danger of its getting loose. These mats, complete, 
cost about thirty-five cents each, and with ordinary 
wear and tear will last two seasons. Mats similar 
to these are now offered by many seed dealers at 
very reasonable prices, so that it hardly pays to 
make them at home. Straw mats are also used 
to a considerable extent, but they are more ex- 
pensive than the others, and, with the handling 
they must necessarily get, will not last very much 
longer. 

Mats are in all cases preferable to boards. They 
keep the plants warmer and are not so unhandy to 
move about. The boards soon warp and for this 
reason will not lie close to the glass. They are, 
furthermore, constantly in the way when laid be- 
tween the frames, and as a rule cannot be handled 
readily by one person. Where frames are made in 
sections it is the practice to have each section long 
enough to take five sashes. Usually a space of 
twelve or fifteen inches is left between each section. 
In Summer the sashes are taken off and the frames 
are stored where the weather will not affect them. 



94 FRAMES 

There is no particular advantage in making frames 
in this way. 

Frames are occasionally heated by means of 
hot water or steam pipes, and in this way the frost 
is excluded. The ordinary practice of heating 
with hot water is to run one and a quarter-inch 
pipe completely around the frame. The boiler is 
placed at a point several feet lower than the frame, 
and the pipe from this is so run as to give a slight 
rise to the end of the frame farthest from the boiler 
and a slight fall from the far end back to the boiler. 
The flow pipe is usually placed against the board 
on the north side of the frame, while the return 
is run along the board on the south side. 

A boiler with sufficient pipe to heat a frame one 
hundred feet long and six feet wide will cost approxi- 
mately sixty-five dollars. While there are some 
advantages in heating frames in this way, it is a 
question whether it would not pay in the end to use 
the boiler in heating a house made of sashes, as al- 
ready described — that is, having the sashes and the 
boiler, better results could probably be obtained by 
constructing a house of sashes so that the plants 
would be accessible at all times, and there would be 
no delay or trouble in case of bad weather or heavy 
snow. 

A summarized comparison of the cost of the 
different structures described is interesting, and is, 
in round numbers, approximately as follows: 



CONSTRUCTION OF FRAMES 95 

For the first type of house, 100 x 12 feet — 

Per running foot $8 00 

Per square foot of bed space 70 

Per plant grown (2000 plants in each house) . 32 

For the second type of house, 1 10 x 24 feet — 

Per running foot 13 80 

Per square foot of bed space 60 

Per plant (4000 plants in each house) .... 27 

For a sash house, 60 x 1 o feet — 

Per running foot 3 75 

Per square foot of bed space 45 

Per plant 19 

For a cold frame, with mats of straw — 

Per running foot 1 10 

Per square foot of bed space 10 

Per plant 4 

For heated frame — 

Per running foot 1 65 

Per square foot of bed space 15 

Per plant 6 

It will be seen that of the two types of houses 
the larger one is proportionally the cheaper. It 
also has other advantages, the most important 
being that crops such as roses and carnations may, 
with some minor changes, be grown in it. The low 
type of house, on the other hand, is not well ad- 
apted to the growth of any crop but the violet. In 
all cases there would be a saving where more than 
one house is built. In the case of the one hundred 

by twelve-foot house, without intervening walls — 

3 can be erected complete for $1,840 

5 can be erected complete for 2,41 5 

There is not so much difference in the one hun- 
dred by twenty-four foot house — 

3 can be erected complete for $3,105 

5 (with a capacity for 20,000 plants) can be 

erected complete for 4^3^ 



g6 WATER SUPPLY 



CHAPTER IV 



WATER SUPPLY 

An abundant supply of good water is essential 
to the successful cultivation of most plants, and the 
violet is no exception to this rule. Water is needed 
not only to keep the ground moist, but to syringe 
or spray in order to keep down red spider. For 
ordinary watering no force is required, but for 
spraying, arrangements must be made to get a pres- 
sure of not less than twenty pounds to the square 
inch in the system of pipes. Where city water is 
to be obtained and the rates are reasonable, the sim- 
plest plan is, of course, merely to get proper con- 
nections with the mains. Where this is not practi- 
cable, however, the water must be obtained either 
from wells or from some other source, and must be 
stored in a tank or some suitable reservoir to be 
drawn upon when wanted. For two or three thou- 
sand plants a tank of one thousand gallons capacity 
will be sufficient, and for every two thousand addi- 
tional plants a thousand gallons more of reservoir 
space will be required. Thus, for ten thousand 
plants a tank holding not less than five thousand 



GASOLINE ENGINES 97 

gallons should be at hand. These statements apply 
mainly where windmills are used for pumping, but 
they will also hold good for almost any kind of a 
pumping apparatus, as allowance must always be 
made for breakdowns and other accidents. 

A windmill offers the cheapest power for rais- 
ing water, but its chief drawback is the uncertainty 
of its action. With a reservoir of any of the capaci- 
ties given, however, this objection is in a measure 
overcome, as it seldom happens that there are more 
than three or four days without wind and the sup- 
ply in the tank will usually tide over these periods. 
A ten-foot windmill, with pump and tower, and a 
five thousand gallon tank and tower for same com- 
plete, will cost about three hundred dollars. This 
outfit ought, under all ordinary conditions, to serve 
for from ten to fifteen thousand plants. 

As already mentioned, windmills have the ob- 
jection of being uncertain in action. They further- 
more do not give the facilities for spraying that 
can be obtained with other power. To obtain twen- 
ty pounds pressure, it will be necessary to have the 
tank raised more than forty feet above the beds, 
and this is not always practicable. Our preference 
is therefore for an economical power that is ready 
at short notice and at all times and can be used for 
developing pressure as it is needed. Such a ma- 
chine is to be found in many of the gasoline engines 
now on the market and which can be bought at very 



98 WATER 

reasonable figures. A two-horse-power engine, com- 
plete with pump for either deep or shallow well, can 
be bought for two hundred to two hundred and fifty 
dollars. A tank of three thousand gallons capacity 
will increase the cost fifty dollars, so that the total 
expense of an outfit of this kind will be no more 
than a windmill. By using a ten-gallon closed steel 
expansion tank for an air chamber, water can be 
pumped directly into the pipe system at a pressure 
of twenty-five to thirty or forty pounds per square 
inch. The system can have a safety valve at some 
convenient point, with the overflow so arranged as 
to go into the main storage reservoir. With this 
plan the water can be drawn from the reservoir for 
ordinary watering, and for spraying the water can 
be forced by the engine and pump directly into the 
pipes. The cost of running such an engine is merely 
nominal. We have used one for several years and 
find that a little over one dollar and a quarter a 
month for gasoline and lubricating oil will give us 
five hundred gallons of water a day. A thousand 
gallons of water a day, which is enough for ten to 
fifteen thousand plants, would probably not cost 
much more than two and a half dollars a month. 
Such gasoline engines, if ignited with an electric 
spark, are perfectly safe, can be started or stopped 
in a moment, and with ordinary care will last for 
years. 

In piping houses there should be one pipe along 



TANKS 99 

each path, with hose connections fifty feet apart. 
For five houses, each one hundred feet by twelve 
feet, the main water pipe should be one and one-half 
inches in diameter, with an inch lateral in each 
house. The hose connections should be three- 
quarters of an inch, as it does not pay to use one- 
inch hose. It rarely happens that watering goes 
on in more than one house at a time, so that the 
one and one-half inch main will be found large 
enough. 

We do not believe there is any special ad- 
vantage in heating the water in Winter. In fact, 
so far as our experience goes, cold water is just as 
good as warm or " chilled " water. This is the 
general conclusion where careful comparative 
experiments have been made. 

It is sometimes an advantage to be able to use 
liquid fertilizers, and for this purpose a small tank 
of five hundred to eight hundred gallons should be 
provided. It should have a separate pipe system, 
one-inch pipe being large enough all round. If this 
tank can be set in a barn loft or some slightly ele- 
vated place where its contents will not freeze it will 
be an advantage. The additional cost of a tank of 
this kind, with pipes and fittings, will be seventy- 
five to eighty-five dollars. Such a tank would have 
sufficient capacity for furnishing liquid food for 
eight to ten thousand plants. 



100 PROPAGATING 



CHAPTER V 

PROPAGATING, SELECTING, PLANTING, CLEANING, 
WATERING, ETC. 



PROPAGATING 

The violet may be propagated in a number of 
ways, and as much of the success in growing the 
crop depends on proper methods we shall go into 
some detail as to the various practices followed. 

One of the most common methods is to divide 
the crown. This can be done whenever there is 
sufficient crown to divide, but the common way is 
to make the divisions in Spring after the flowering 
season is over. The plant is merely lifted with a 
spade or trowel, and after all the soil is shaken off 
the roots the plant is pulled apart or cut apart, as 
one may think proper. In dividing such a crown 
young plants of various kinds will be found. Some 
will have long, " leggy " stems, with many leaf scars 
upon them; some will be short and stocky; some 
will have hard, woody roots, while others will show 
white, clean-growing roots covered with young 
feeding rootlets and root hairs. It is the general 



PROPAGATING 



101 



practice to throw away the scrawny plants and to 
put the others in soil or sand, or in a mixture of 
both, in order to induce further root development 




33. — Cuttings with hard, wiry roots, from divided crowns 



and growth. Some make a practice of putting the 
young plants in a frame outside, setting them in 
rows about three inches apart and two inches dis- 
tant in the row. If sand is used about four inche? is 



PROPAGATING 103 

spread on the ground, and after being firmed with 
a brick or board the young plants are set in with 
a dibble. Whitewashed sashes are kept over the 
frame and plenty of air is given night and day when 
the weather permits. As the plants are never put 
out in this way until the first or middle of April no 
heat is required. In case soil is used care is taken 
to add about three inches of good rotten manure 
to ordinary garden soil. The manure is thoroughly 
worked in and the ground is made as fine as it is 
possible to make it with rake and spade. It should 
never be packed. When smoothed off, set the plants 
the same as described for sand. In both cases the 
plants must be watched carefully and syringed every 
bright day in order to keep down red spider, taking 
care not to over-wet the soil. In six or eight weeks 
after setting in frames as described, the plants will 
be ready to transplant to the place where they are 
to make their Summer growth. 

There are many objections to propagating 
plants in this way, and the best growers have long 
since abandoned it. In dividing the crown, and 
thereby carrying over each year some of the old 
roots, various diseases affecting the former are 
carried over also, and if the practice is continued 
from year to year the tendency is gradually to 
develop a weak, non-resistant stock. The grower in 
such cases finds himself losing his ability to get good 
plants and usually satisfies his conscience by saying 



i04 



CARE OF PLANTS 




35. — Common form of cutting from divided crown. This will 
make a good plant if properly rooted in soil 



PROPAGATING 105 

that luck is against him. We have examined 
thousands of apparently strong, vigorous plants, 
after being lifted in the Spring preparatory to 
division, but have never yet found one where the 
roots, both young and old, did not show disease. 
Of these diseases we shall speak in the proper place; 
suffice it to say here that they are of such a nature 
that they gradually continue their insidious work 
after the young plant is put out, and while the latter 
may appear strong when it is put in the ground, 
the trouble is present, and after a while, when an 
extra strain comes, the effects, in one form or 
another, will surely appear. 

Another serious objection to this method is 
that it must necessarily be done late, after blooming 
time is over or nearly over. This, in many sections, 
will delay the work of propagation to such an extent 
that if unusual weather conditions prevail through 
April or May much injury will result to the young 
plants. If a hot spell of weather comes on, as it 
often does in the early part of May, the young plants 
are sure to suffer, and weak, stunted stock is the 
result. We have never found it saje to put in stock 
ojler April 15th. 

Another method of propagation, and one open 
to fewer objections than the last, consists in cutting 
the offshoots, or runners, from the main plant any 
time from the first of February to the middle of 
March. In this case the main plant is not disturbed, 



io6 



CARE OF PLANTS 



but the young offshoots, which in good plants are 
found in abundance, are cut off, only those being 
selected which show young, white roots. These 
roots in most cases have never reached the soil, 
but are sent out into the semi-dark, moist air, made 
so by the plant as a whole. A good, strong crown 
will give from ten to twenty cuttings, such as we 
have described, between the first part of February 




36. — Lath box, or flat, for rooted cuttings 

and the middle of March. As soon as the cuttings 
are removed they should be thrown into a box with 
a lid or cover, so as to keep them from wilting. 
When a sufficient quantity has been cut they are 
trimmed up and placed in soil as follows: 

Prepare the soil several weeks in advance, using 
four parts good rotten sod and one part finely rotted 
manure. Mix thoroughly and screen through an 
ordinary sand screen or anything having a similar- 
sized mesh. Keep the soil where it cannot get too 



PROPAGATING I OJ 

wet and never handle it when there is too much 
moisture present. The soil being prepared, make a 
lot of boxes, using for the ends strips of undressed 
white pine one inch thick, three inches wide, and 
fourteen inches long.. For the sides and bottom 
use ordinary laths cut exactly in half. In making 
the boxes put on the bottom first, nailing on the two 
outside laths at the start, then filling in between 
with others, allowing about a quarter of an inch 
space between each two pieces of lath. The bottom 
being made, put on the sides. Each side will take 
two pieces of lath without space between them. The 
boxes are now ready to fill with soil, but before 
doing this spread on the bottom of each box a thin 
coating of wet sphagnum moss to keep the soil from 
washing out. Put in enough soil to stand about 
half an inch higher than the edges of the box, then 
take a brick and gently press the soil down so that 
it is uniformly about half an inch below the edges 
of the box. Set the cuttings with a dibble, so that 
they will average one hundred to the box. 

In one box put thirteen rows of eight plants 
each, in another twelve rows of eight plants each, 
and so on. After setting out in this way, the plants 
are shaded and watered carefully for a few days, 
and then moved outside into a coldframe, or prefer- 
ably kept in a house where they can be looked after 
at all times. If put outside they should be kept 
covered with whitewashed sashes. Where sashes 



108 CARE OF PLANTS 

are at hand we prefer to make a temporary house 
out of them. Such a house has already been 
described, and it will be found that the plants can 
be looked after much better in them than in a frame. 
Moreover, they will grow better because the air can 
be kept moist, diseases and insects can be kept 
down, and all conditions necessary for growth can 
be managed to better advantage. 

We mention the ordinary coldframe with 
sashes not because we favor it, but merely to show 
that they have been given fair trial and have been 
found wanting. This method of propagation applies 
particularly to the Campbell violet. If all the 
conditions are carefully watched, fine plants can 
be grown in this way. We do not advise using boxes 
or flats with close bottoms, as drainage is not so 
good and the roots in consequence will not develop 
so well. Roots need air at all times, and where this 
is given through proper soil, proper drainage, and 
proper watering, it is astonishing the way the young 
plants start ofT and grow. 

The third method of propagation and the one 
generally followed by growers of Marie Louise, 
consists in taking cuttings from the crowns any 
time between the middle of January and the middle 
of March. These cuttings in many cases have 
already made some air roots, but these should all 
be trimmed off at the same time the cutting proper 
is trimmed up. After trimming, the cuttings are 



PROPAGATING 1 09 

put in sand to root. The sand is an important item. 
It should be moderately coarse and very clean, 
especially as regards decaying leaves or organic 
matter of any kind. If obtained from creeks or 
small streams it is apt to have too much organic 
matter in it. River sand and bank sand are the 
best. At Poughkeepsie most of the propagating 
sand is obtained from banks which crop out at 
various places, and it is almost wholly free from 
organic matter. The banks are really veins or 
strata of sand deposited ages ago. One cannot be 
too particular about the sand, and while we cannot 
describe exactly the kind to use, the few hints 
thrown out will enable the man of intelligence to 
exercise his judgment properly. We make it a point 
never to use the sand but once, as it is cheaper to get 
new sand than to have the cuttings injected with 
disease. 

The sand may be put in boxes as already de- 
scribed for soil. It should be pressed a little more 
firmly than the soil and watered before putting in 
the cuttings. The cuttings we put in with a dibble 
the size of a lead pencil, two hundred cuttings to a 
box. After filling the boxes the cuttings should be 
looked after carefully for about two weeks or more. 
During very bright days they should be covered 
with single sheets of newspaper, and if the weather 
is warm and the sun bright the papers should have a 
dash of water thrown on them with the sprinkling 




3 

a 

•S 

g 

a 

a, 

o 



a 



"a 






PROPAGATING III 

can during the heat of the day. Place the cuttings 
in a sash house as already described, or if there is 
room in the houses proper keep them there. Never 
allow them, under any circumstances, to wilt, for if 
they do it means another reduction in the total out- 
put of salable flowers. Where facilities are at hand 
the cuttings can be rooted in a cutting bench, using 
about three inches of sand firmed and watered. Put 
the cuttings in rows about one and one-half inches 
apart in the row. The cutting bench must be 
carefully shaded and must be so arranged that 
currents of air cannot sweep over it. The shed 
house, with glass roof sloping to the north, already 
described, forms an excellent place for such a bench. 
It requires four to eight weeks for cuttings put in 
sand as described to root properly. They may stay 
in longer than this without injury, but as soon as 
they are well rooted they should be transferred to 
lath boxes containing soil, one hundred to a box. If 
there is space in the greenhouse the rooted cuttings 
may be set in one of the beds. Plant in rows two 
inches apart and the same in the row, using a dibble 
made by trimming to a point a piece of broom 
handle six or eight inches long. Never use old soil for 
these cuttings, that is, soil that has once Leen used 
Jor violets. It costs very little extra labor to get 
fresh soil for the purpose, and the labor will pay a 
hundred fold. 

The principal object of this transplanting is to 



112 



CARE OF PLANTS 




PROPAGATING 113 

get good, strong, clean roots. We have had excellent 
success in this matter by throwing the old soil out of 
a bed to a depth of eight inches and then putting 
in about two inches of coarse coal ashes, broken 
clinkers, and the like. On top of this put two inches 
of sifted coal ashes, and finally four inches of good 
soil, made, mixed, and sifted as already described. 
The roots run down into the ashes and come out 
clean, white and beautiful, and covered with root 
hairs. 

Growers attempt, once in a while, to plant di- 
rectly from the sand to the beds where the plants 
are to make their growth. We have tried this 
plan, but cannot recommend it, as the risk in hand- 
ling the plants is too great. If cloudy, damp weather 
follows after the planting no harm may result, but 
if it should be bright and warm the plants will suf- 
fer in spite of all that can be done. There are other 
objections to this plan, but they need not be men- 
tioned here, as the best growers do not follow the 
practice at all. 

We have now described the three principal 
methods followed in propagation. The last we 
recommend to those who have had considerable 
experience and who are growing Marie Louise. Our 
preference is for a combination of the second and 
third methods. In both cases the cuttings are taken 
from the plants as they stand in the bed. Those 
which have good, clean, white roots can be put in 



114 CARE OF PLANTS 

the soil as already described, but those which are 
just as good in every way except as to the number 
of roots, may have all the latter cut off and made 
to make new ones in the sand. Following this 
practice, about half the cuttings go into the soil and 
half into sand. This practice is especially commend- 
able where Campbells are grown, but for Marie 
Louise, as already pointed out, the sand method 
throughout is believed to be the best. 

The plants, when placed in soil as already de- 
scribed, are to stand there until they are finally set 
in the beds, which, south of New York, Pittsburgh, 
and Chicago, should not be later than the first of 
June. North of this they may run till the middle of 
June, or at the very latest the first of July. Leaving 
out the first practice entirely, it will be seen that in 
the second the young plants stand in soil-filled flats 
or boxes from sixty to one hundred and twenty days, 
and then are set directly where they are to grow 
for flowering. In the third practice the young 
plants are in sand about fifty days, when they are 
transferred to soil where they remain until planting 
time, which runs, according to locality, from the 
first of June to the first of July. Anyone, by 
managing properly and having not over twenty 
thousand plants, ought to be able to do all his 
planting in fifteen to twenty days. In our section, 
Washington, we prefer to plant between the first of 
Mav and the first of June. 



PROPAGATING 115 

We have omitted the practice of Fall propaga- 
tion, but it will be well to discuss it briefly, as some 
of the older growers believed in it on the ground 
that it was the only way the stock could be main- 
tained in a healthy condition. Their argument was 
that the violet is a plant that needs a period of rest, 
and that propagating in Spring just after the plant 
had been pushed through Winter flowering is con- 
trary to nature's methods of increasing the plants. 
It is true that the violet makes its principal effort 
in the way of sending out runners in the Fall, 
and theoretically this would be the proper time 
to propagate, as good wood can then be had in 
abundance. Practically, however, there are many 
objections to the plan. Adopting it necessitates 
carrying the young plants through the Winter, and, 
no matter how much care is exercised in watching 
them, they nearly always suffer either from being 
kept too cold or too warm, too dry or too moist. 
In other words, despite every precaution they get 
stunted or checked so severely that many of them 
never rally from the shock; consequently they do 
not prove as vigorous as cuttings made in the 
Spring and properly handled. 

Another question to consider, and one that we 
have found of much importance, is that during their 
long stand in flats or beds they are apt to become 
infected with one or more of the several stem and 
root diseases, and while these may not be plainly 



I 1 6 CARE OF PLANTS 

evident in the Spring, they are present, nevertheless, 
and will develop and do serious injury later. There 
is this to be said, however, that choosing between 
the methods of division after blooming time and 
propagating in the Fall, we would prefer the latter, 
because we believe that better results will follow. 
Finally, in using the Fall-rooted plants there is al- 
ways the danger of the plants getting too big. It 
is as bad to have a plant too big as it is to have it 
too small, and if set too early or started too early 
the growth will become so heavy in hot weather 
that it will be found impossible to keep down dis- 
eases and insects. If a grower has everything at his 
disposal in the way of houses and facilities for 
handling the young plants it would probably be well 
to propagate some of the stock in the Fall, but if he 
has to put up with the ordinary facilities he had 
better leave Fall cuttings alone. Fall propagating 
really means a special house for the proper care 
and handling of the young plants through a period 
of six or eight months — a handling so that they will 
not grow too much or too little (problems that are 
beyond the reach of most men). 

We have now described the mere act of propa- 
gating or increasing the number of plants and have 
next to consider the most important question con- 
nected with violet growing, namely, the selection 
of stock with a view of increasing vigor and pro- 
ductiveness. 



SELECTION OE STOCK I 17 

SELECTION OE STOCK FOR VIGOR AND 
PRODUCTIVENESS 

To grasp this question fully we must first realize 
that the violet, like other plants, is a plastic 
organism — that within a certain range it has power 
to change or to adapt itself to the conditions which 
surround it. This plasticity or adaptability of 
the plant is of the utmost importance, for if all its 
functions were fixed absolutely it could not suffer 
any change for long, however slight. We find, 
therefore, in practice, that plants grown in one 
section and moved to another behave differently — 
it may be in the matter of time of blooming, 
quantity of flowers, character of foliage, size or 
color of flowers, length of flower stem, or in many 
other directions. Recognizing this fact, and those 
that are naturally correlated with it, we have the 
important practical conclusion that the only way 
for a man to attain the maximum results Jrom the 
j)lants is to work steadily, intelligently, and rationally 
toward the end of developing a strain which will fit 
the conditions which practice and judgment enable 
him to jjrovide. Of course, the man himself is 
limited in this matter, but he should endeavor 
first of all to find out what his limitations are and 
then concentrate his efforts in the field where there 
is hope of practical results. As a matter of fact, 
the limitations are more fancied than real, and 



n8 



CARE OF PLANTS 







SELECTION OF STOCK I 10, 

where the work is intelligently undertaken and 
carried out it is astonishing what power is put 
within the grasp. 

It is seldom that violet growers average more 
than fifty flowers to the plant for the season. 
There is no good reason why this number should 
not be increased to one hundred or even one hundred 
and fifty flowers per plant without additional room, 
additional heat, additional fertilizers, or additional 
work of any kind except in the care necessary to 
keep up the stock by proper selection. How, then, 
should this selection be started, and how should it 
be continued in order to reap the full benefit from 
it ? To start at the beginning, it will be found that 
the first stock of plants, no matter where obtained, 
will show differences: Some will be small, some 
large; some will give long-stemmed flowers, others 
flowers with short stems; some will show a tendency 
to throw flowers of a poor color; some will have a 
straggling habit of growth, others will be compact, 
with large leaves on long petioles. As the season 
for flower picking arrives these plants should be 
carefully gone over and the grower should fix in 
his own mind his ideal or type. It does not take 
long to; learn what plants more closely approximate 
the type. Out of one thousand plants there may not 
the first year be more than a hundred that show the 
characteristics he is after. We cannot put down 
in black and white what these characteristics are, 



METHOD OF SELECTION 121 

except in the most general way. The plants should 
be vigorous and give every evidence that they are 
growing. They should have a compact, symmetrical 
appearance. The leaves should be glossy, green, 
large, and on long petioles, and should feel, when 
you run your hand over them, like living, growing 
things, and not as if they were made of leather or 
cloth. If a hundred or less of such plants are found, 
stake them before flowering commences, and to each 
stake tie an ordinary shipping tag. Push the stake 
well into the soil so that it will not interfere with 
working the beds, and tie the tag on securely so 
that it will not come off or get lost. Each plant is 
then given a number, which is never duplicated. 
We give one hundred plants as the limit for the 
first year's work, for this is about as many as one 
can well handle until more experience is gained. 
There would, therefore, be one hundred numbers — 
from one to one hundred. Every time a tagged plant 
is reached while picking, count the number of 
flowers picked. We presume that there will be some 
who, upon reading this, will say: " I have not the 
time to do this and what is the good of it all, 
anyway? ,: These are the men who insist that luck 
governs the question, and while they will always 
be found they are constantly vexed with ups and 
downs and sooner or later quit. As a matter of 
fact, it takes very little time to do what has been 
outlined, and any one who will follow the practice 



122 CARE OF PLANTS 

for three years will be willing to hire additional 
help, if necessary, to keep up the work, because he 
will see that it pays. 

When the season's work is over it will be found 
that the tagged plants show many interesting facts. 
They show the total number of flowers picked and 
the number picked each month, and they show, too, 
the relation of flower yield to weather conditions if 
one wishes to carry the matter into this field. Some 
plants have grown fifty flowers, others as many as 
one hundred and fifty. Some will give the greatest 
number of flowers in December and January, others 
in February and March. Here, then, are practical 
points that should at once be taken advantage of. 
Vigor, health, compactness of growth being equal, 
we would want our plants to yield as many flowers 
as possible, and at a time when they are worth the 
most money; so that of two plants both of which 
give a hundred flowers, we would give the preference 
to the one that yields the most flowers during 
December and January rather than to the one that 
gives the greater yield during February and March. 
Of the pedigree stock we would eliminate all plants 
where the yield the first year dropped below seven- 
ty-five flowers. The second year we would eliminate 
all plants that failed to give more than ninety 
flowers, and the third year all those that failed to 
give a hundred good blooms. 

Each plant can be counted on to give not less 



METHOD OF SELECTION 123 

than ten first-class cuttings, so that if only fifty 
plants come up to the standard the first year they 
will give at least five hundred good rooted cuttings 
for the second season. Each of these plants should 
carry the number of their parent, with an additional 
mark to indicate the season; for example, the ten 
plants from number one the first year would all be 
recorded as plants a, next year the plants from these 
would be plants b, and so on. If the work is carried 
out well the first year, three hundred plants, repre- 
senting the best of the five hundred, can be staked 
the second season. These receive their specified 
numbers, are watched as before, and will give from 
one thousand to one thousand five hundred good 
plants for the next season's crop. Working in this 
way, and of course keeping clearly before one the 
importance of looking after every detail of culture, 
the average yield can be brought up to the one 
hundred mark, where it may be kept as long as the 
proper vigilance and intelligence are exercised in 
the work. We are satisfied that two-thirds of the 
failures in growing violets come about Jrom not fully 
recognizing the principles we have here set forth. 
Left to itself, or if not properly assisted, the ten- 
dency of the violet is to retrograde, partly no doubt 
because it has been grown so long under abnormal 
conditions and partly for other reasons, which it is 
not necessary to discuss in detail here. We find it 
very much the condition of a loaded car on a steep 



124 CARE OF PLANTS 

grade. It is always ready to go down hill the mo- 
ment we take off the brake or remove the block from 
the rail. The farther it goes the more difficult it is 
to stop, and if we do not put forth some effort there 
will be a general smash-up sooner or later. On the 
other hand, by dint of much labor we can slowly 
push up grade, but we are always confronted with 
the fact that the moment we lose our watchfulness 
the down-hill motion commences, and away goes 
everything we have gained. 

The author's work is done when he points out 
the facts and principles involved, and it remains 
for the reader to do the rest. 

PLANTING 

We have pointed out in the previous chapter 
how to prepare the soil and have shown in the first 
part of this chapter how the plants are to be cared 
for until the time for planting. As already stated, 
we prefer to get our plants out permanently between 
the first of May and the first of June in latitudes 
south of New York, but north of this, planting may 
be delayed fifteen or twenty days. Having the soil 
stacked and ready near the houses, the first opera- 
tion is to throw out the old plants and remove six 
inches of the soil from the beds. The old plants are 
merely lifted with a spade, the earth is shaken off, 
and then they are thrown outside into a heap to be 
hauled away to the dump or burned. If hauled 



PLANTING 125 

away we want to get them as far away from the 
houses as possible. In any event, they should 
never be allowed to lie around and rot and decay. 

The soil is best handled in wheelbarrows. It 
is hauled out and thrown in a heap close by, to be 
finally disposed of when more time is at hand. When 
the six inches of soil is tak^n out all boards are 
examined and if they are found rotted they are taken 
out and new ones put in. The beds are next forked 
over and air-slaked lime is thrown upon the ground 
in sufficient quantity to whiten it thoroughly. The 
new soil is then brought in with the wheelbarrows 
and dumped into the beds. Enough soil is brought 
in to fill the beds just even with the boards. In 
no case is the soil rolled, walked on, or packed in any 
way. When sufficient soil is in the bed the latter 
is leveled off with a rake, all clods, stones, large 
sticks, etc., being thrown out. Finally the beds are 
made smooth and level by means of a straight-edged 
board four inches wide and not longer than the 
width of the bed. 

The bed is now ready to be marked off. This 
can be done in a number of ways, the main object 
being to get the plants set as nearly in straight rows 
as possible, eight by nine inches apart. It often 
happens that the board marking the walk is not 
straight and if the plants are set straight by a line 
they appear crooked on account of the board, as 
that is what the eye usually follows. To keep the 



126 CARE OF PLANTS 

rows straight with the board use a simple T square 
made of a piece of four-inch white pine. By using 
the board of the walk as a base for the square all the 
rows come in line with the walk, and at least appear 
more pleasing to the eye even if they are not mathe- 
matically straight. By means of a saw, permanent 
lines are marked off nine inches apart on the board 
forming the edge of the walk. Similar lines are made 
eight inches apart on the square. The square can 
then be moved rapidly along over the ground and 
a hole made with a dibble where the plant is to be 
set. We usually try to have the plants set back at 
least five inches from the edge of the walk, so it 
takes a little figuring at first to tell how to divide 
the space across the bed. As soon as the bed is 
marked the plants are set, as better results are 
obtained in this way than where the ground is 
allowed to settle. In case it is not practicable to 
plant at once, and if the ground settles too much be- 
fore planting can be done, the beds should be freshly 
turned up with a fork and then raked down and 
smoothed as before described. 

The plants are cut out of the boxes or bed 
where they have been growing and all dead leaves 
and buds are trimmed off. They are then carried to 
the bed where they are to be planted, and laid oppo- 
site each mark made by the dibble. The advantage 
of having the stock plants in light flats comes in 
here, for the flats can be carried to the bed and the 



PLANTING 127 

plants cut out there — we say cut out, for we usually 
use a putty knife for the purpose. This is first run 
down between the rows of plants in the box, after 
which a cut is made between each two plants. In 
this way each plant comes out with a square piece 
of soil and the roots are disturbed very little. One 
good man can set as fast as two or three can prepare 
the plants as described. Where the reach is less than 
five feet the plants can be set from the walk, but 
if the beds are so wide that one cannot reach, plant- 
ing is done from a board laid across the bed, but not 
so that it will compact the soil. Use a board twelve 
inches wide, and work backward in planting. Adopt- 
ing this plan, two rows can be planted without mov- 
ing the board. The planting itself is an important 
item, and many plants will be lost and others in- 
jured unless care is exercised. The grower himself 
had better attend to this matter. We have never 
found anything better than the fingers for planting. 
A slight hole is made and the square of earth con- 
taining the young plant and its roots is pushed into 
the loose soil. A movement of the hand around the 
plant levels the soil and firms it, and the work is 
done. Having the beds filled and leveled and the 
plants furnished, one man can mark the soil and set 
three hundred plants an hour. If the day is warm 
and bright it will be necessary to water the plants as 
they are put out. One can plant for an hour, how- 
ever, and then water, allowing the water to run 



SHADING YOUNG PLANTS 120, 

gently from the end of the hose, and following the 
rows so as not to plow up the ground. At this sea- 
son of the year it is, of course, necessary to have all 
ventilators and doors open in order to get plenty of 
air. The glass also should be well shaded with 
whitewash or with white lead mixed with turpen- 
tine, either one to be put on with a brush. We have 
used laths for shading, but abandoned them for the 
reason that they interfere with the light in such a 
way as to hinder growth. The shading should be 
only moderately heavy, and it should be kept 
as nearly as possible the same throughout the 
entire year; that is, Winter and Summer we have 
found it an advantage to shade, but this may not 
hold good farther north, where sunshine is less 
abundant. 

All of our directions, it will be seen, apply to 
plants grown under glass throughout the year. We 
do not recommend held planting of violets any- 
where, that is, if it is intended to grow them for flow- 
ering in houses the following Winter. It is very im- 
portant, however, to have some reserve plants, for 
there is always more or less loss in the beds. Here 
again the cheap frame house comes into good use, 
for it is well adapted for growing reserve plants. It 
is best to count on a loss of ten per cent., although 
this is heavier than it ought to be. For ten thousand 
plants, therefore, it would be necessary to have a 
reserve of at least one thousand plants to draw upon. 



CLEANING 131 

When frames alone are used the plants can be 
set in two ways: First, the frames themselves can 
be put down where they are to stay, and the plants 
set in rows eight by nine inches, as already de- 
scribed; second, the frames can be made, as already 
described, in sixteen-foot lengths, and stored until 
wanted. The plants are then set directly in the 
open, nine inches apart in the row, the rows being 
just long enough so that the frame will fit over 
them. There are so many objections to these 
methods, and the obstacles to overcome are so 
great, that we do not recommend them except in 
violet farming. Shade here is of the greatest 
importance during the Summer, and where the 
plants are grown in open frames or without frames 
this can only be brought about by using lath 
screens or something similar. The screens, when 
made, should not be too dense, and should be raised 
at least four feet above the plants. In southern Cali- 
fornia violets are grown the whole season with no 
other protection than screens made of laths, raised 
about eight feet above the plants. The flowers are 
shipped to Los Angeles and other points, and are of 
fair quality. 

After the planting is completed and everything 
about the place has been cleaned up and put into 
shape, the serious work of caring for the plants 
commences. 



132 CARE OF PLANTS 

CLEANING, WATERING, SYRINGING, MULCHING AND 

FEEDING 

Eternal vigilance is necessary in the matter of 
cleaning. We try to get over the plants at least 
once a week, cutting off all yellow and dying leaves 
and gently stirring the surface of the soil with the 
fingers. All weeds, too, are pulled up or torn up in 
the stirring. In cleaning, we never use anything but 
a knife, as pulling the leaves off is a bad practice, 
for it is apt to tear the bark and open the way for 
attacks of fungi. Toward the middle of August the 
runners will begin to come, and they must be cut 
off as soon as possible. Many abortive flowers will 
appear, too, and they must not be allowed to stay on 
the plant. In cleaning, we have made it an invari- 
able practice to throw all dead leaves, runners, etc., 
into a box or basket, emptying these into a barrel or 
box outside at suitable intervals. We do not believe 
it wise to throw the material into the walks, for no 
matter how soon the latter may be swept, some of 
the decaying material is trampled upon, and in this 
way the first steps toward the beginning of disease 
may be taken. The only safe rule to follow is never 
to allow a leaf of any kind to lie around and decay in 
the bouses or frames. We have time and time again 
seen growers cleaning their plants, especially where 
they are in frames, and throwing the dead leaves, 
runners and weeds out under their feet, to be 
trampled into the mud. Such growers have fair 



WATERING 133 

success for a season or two, then wonder why it is 
that diseases and insect pests steadily increase until 
they finally get the upper hand. Cleanliness at all 
times, and a thorough destruction oj all diseased 
leaves, cuttings and plants are matters that should 
never be neglected. 

Watering, to the ordinary man, may really seem 
like a simple matter, but it is one of the most impor- 
tant factors in the growth of this or any other crop. 
No hard and fast rules can be laid down on this sub- 
ject. Water when the plants need it, which can only 
be determined by experience. We never water over 
head, but use the end of a three-quarter-inch hose, 
held in such a way that the water runs out freely 
but not forcibly. If the water comes out with too 
much force the soil is puddled and the plants may be 
washed up. When the plants are still young, and 
the ground is soft, a good plan is to fasten to the end 
of the hose an ordinary tin pancake turner, such as 
can be bought anywhere for ten cents. This can be 
fastened to the hose by a rubber band, and will 
spread the water so that it will fall in a thin sheet 
about four inches wide. The water soaks in when 
put on in this way, and seldom causes the formation 
of a crust — the thing to be avoided. Plants in hot 
weather require water almost every day. At no 
time should the plants be allowed to become dry, nor 
should water be given so often that the soil is kept 
constantly in a pasty condition. 



134 CARE OF PLANTS 

In our judgment the best results will be ob- 
tained when the variation of the moisture in the soil 
is allowed the widest range the plants will stand. 
What this is cannot be given in words, as too many 
conditions are involved. It is a question that must 
be studied by each individual and by him worked 
out for his own case. The point we wish to make is 
that better growth can be obtained by allowing a 
certain range or variation in the moisture content of 
the soil than where an attempt is made to keep the 
moisture content at one point, or near one point. If, 
for example, we find that in a certain type of soil 
the best growth is obtained where the maximum 
moisture content approximates twenty per cent., it 
will be best not to attempt to hold the moisture 
steadily at this point, but rather to allow a variation 
of five to eight per cent., as this is more apt to give 
optimum conditions for growth than where an effort 
is put forth to hold it at one point. 

It is not necessary here to go into a discussion 
of the physiological questions involved in this mat- 
ter. Suffice it to say that we may look at the plant 
in the light of a machine kept in operation in part 
by stimuli from without. Stimuli may come by 
changes in conditions, and if everything works in 
harmony, perfect growth is the result. 

As the season advances, the plants will require 
more and more water, and every precaution will 
have to be taken not to let them wilt or to get on the 



FEEDING 135 

dry side so often as to check growth. The plants 
must be kept growing without a check of any kind, 
so that by the middle of September they practically 
cover the ground. 

From the time of planting constant care must 
be exercised in the matter of syringing. Plants 
ought to be syringed throughout the Summer and 
early Fall not less than three times a week. We will 
discuss this question more fully in the chapter on 
insects and diseases, as the syringing is mainly to 
keep down red spider. Always select bright days 
for the syringing, so as to have the plants dry off 
before night. As the season advances, and the 
plants grow larger, much care must be exercised in 
syringing, otherwise serious results may follow, as 
will be pointed out further on. By the first or mid- 
dle of October it will be necessary to withhold all 
water from the foliage, and if the spraying has been 
thorough this can be done without fear of injury 
from spider. 

About the middle of August we like to give 
the beds a thin mulching of finely rotted manure. 
Horse manure is best for this purpose, as it works 
up fine and dries out better on the bed. Put on just 
enough to cover the ground, and work it well around 
the plants. The manure mulching serves to keep the 
ground moist and free from weeds. It also keeps the 
flowers cleaner when they come, and checks the 
growth of slime and green molds that sometimes 



CARE OF PLAN IS 

appear on the soil. Mulching with sphagnum and 
with pine shavings has been tried, but both were 
abandoned in favor of the rotteel horse manure. 
Feeding, after the plants are once established, 

is an important matter, but our advice to the begin- 
ners is to let it severely alone. There are three or 
four don'ts that come in aptly at this point: i 
Don't imagine that you must feed your plants in 
order to get the best results. This is true o( some 
crops, but not vt the violet. (2) Don't trifle with 
chemicals. They may be all right in the hands o( an 
expert, but it is like putting strong medicine into the 
hands of a layman and turning him loose to doctor 
his friends. (3} If you must use chemicaUertilizers, 
don't experiment on all your plants, but set asi< 
few dozen in one bed and a few dozen in another; 
make your trials carefully, and compare the results 
obtained with those where no chemicals have : 

W e know from many experiments that the 
only safe way is to fee* as ttle as toss 1 e, as the 
plants, if let alone, will take care of themselves, pro- 
vided the soil is prepared as we have described else- 
where. When you d< ( I . apply only manure 
water, made by soaking good, strong cow manure in 
er, usir. t one-half bushel of manure to the 

barrel o( water. \ ■■ . tering with this kind of fer- 
terlizer every ten or fifteen days during the Winter 
will do no harm and may do Great care, how- 

e\ er, must ed in keeping the manure water 



TEMPERATURE 1 37 

fresh and odorless. If it is allowed to sour and 
become offensive it should never be run on the beds, 
as the flowers will take up the odor. If we were 
growing roses, carnations or chrysanthemums, our 
discussion of the use of liquid fertilizers would be 
different, as these are crops that can stand feeding 
while the violet cannot — at least, this has been our 
experience, and the result of observations in many 
places and under widely varying conditions. 

In concluding this chapter there are several 
points to which we wish to call special attention: 
(i) Never delay propagating the plants until late in 
Spring, for such stock cannot be depended upon. (2) 
Always propagate two, or even three times more 
plants than your houses or frames will hold, in order 
to cover risks and to have plenty of stock for selec- 
tion; (3) From the time the cutting leaves the 
parent plant until it has fulfilled its mission as a 
full-grown crown, never allow it to become checked 
in any way. (4) Adopt a rigid system of selection. 

(5) Practice cleanliness in every part of the work. 

(6) Apply water with due regard for the plant's 
wants and not bv anv set of rules. 



I38 TEMPERATURE AND VENTILATION 



CHAPTER VI 



TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS AND VENTILATION 

The violet must be kept cool, and any attempt 
to force it by heat will prove disastrous. For 
Campbell violets an effort should be made to keep 
the night temperature between forty-five and fifty 
degrees, with a day temperature, in bright weather, 
ten to fifteen degrees higher. Marie Louise should 
be kept cooler, say forty to forty-five at night, with 
day temperature fifty-five to sixty. 

When the weather is cloudy and cold do not 
attempt to keep the inside temperature in the sixties 
or even the fifties. Probably the safest rule to fol- 
low with the violet at all times is to manage the 
conditions so as to have, as near as possible, an 
average temperature of eight or ten degrees above 
freezing. For example, if the temperature outside 
is thirty degrees above zero in the day time, and 
the weather cloudy, keep the temperature of the 
houses not more than forty to forty-five degrees. If 
sunny weather prevails, the temperature will natu- 
rally go higher, but do not allow it to get above 
sixty degrees, if it can be avoided, by ventilation 
and allowing the heating pipes to become cold. In 



VENTILATION 1 39 

the climate of Washington and vicinity it is very 
seldom necessary to have any fire in the heater dur- 
ing sunny weather, unless the temperature outside 
is excessively cold and high winds are blowing. As 
a rule, the heat of the sun will be amply sufficient 
to keep the houses in good condition, so that it is al- 
ways safest either to bank or cover the fires, or else 
allow them to die out entirely during the day. Of 
course, farther north these rules will not apply, but 
in a general way they will hold good everywhere, 
ft must be understood that the violet is unlike the 
rose or carnation as regards heat, and as already 
pointed out, any attempt to force it will result in 
overgrowth of leaves and blasting of the flowers. 
Ventilation has already been briefly mentioned, 
but is is important to call attention to this matter 
more specifically, for it is of the highest importance 
to realize the necessity of giving plenty of air to the 
plant at all times. It is impossible to give direc- 
tions as to how and when to ventilate. The violet 
is a lover of fresh air and plenty of it, so that there 
is seldom a day when more or less air should not be 
given. It must not be supposed that this is a sim- 
ple matter, and one that can be left to some irre- 
sponsible person. No two days in the year are ex- 
actly alike, so far as the requirements for ventila- 
tion are concerned. It frequently happens that air 
will be needed the first thing in the morning, and 
it should be given, not all at once, but little by little, 



140 TEMPERATURE AND VENTILATION 

as the day advances and the plants require it. In 
the course of such a day changes may come about, 
necessitating letting the air off, so that there is a 
constant changing either one way or another 
throughout the entire day. Even at night it is nec- 
essary to observe these precautions in order to keep 
the plants in good condition. It has been our prac- 
tice to allow the houses to run just as cold as pos- 
sible in the early part of February and later. It 
will not injure the plants late in the season to allow 
a little frost to get in occasionally. This will hold 
back the flowers and will give more returns as the 
season advances. In March or April, if the weather 
is mild, the doors and ventilators should be open 
at all times in order to get plenty of fresh air. If 
this practice is not followed the growth will be so 
rapid that blossoming will soon cease and there will 
be no flowers for Easter. 

One of the chief reasons why it is difficult for 
a grower to handle violets in connection with other 
crops is the failure to furnish proper temperature 
and ventilation for the violets. The tendency in 
such cases is always to give too much heat, and this, 
more than anything else, will soon manifest itself 
in the appearance of small, poorly colored flowers. 

The same care given in the houses must be ob- 
served where frames are used. Plants in a frame 
will burn up on a bright day unless air is properly 
given. Watch the conditions carefully and give air 



TEMPERATURE I4I 

when the plants need it. Often it will only be nec- 
essary to raise one frame in five, an inch or two in 
the back. Then, again, it may be necessary to 
raise all of them three or four inches to keep the 
plants from suffering. On mild days in winter it 
will improve the plants to take the frames entirely 
off, occasionally, allowing the air to dry out the soil 
and the sun to warm it. Snow must be removed 
as soon as possible, but it often happens that a 
good coating of snow will save the plants from 
freezing. If it promises to be very cold after a 
snow, it is best to leave the latter on for twenty- 
four or even for forty-eight hours. If left longer 
than this the plants may suffer for want of light. 

It may be of interest to give, in tabulated form, 
the temperature records of a violet house for five 
months of the Winter period. These records, which 
were made by Geo. Saltford, formerly a violet 
grower, of Poughkeepsie, New York, show the 
highest, lowest and average temperatures recorded 
during the day and also during the night in his 
houses. A study of the records will be of value 
to those who desire to keep their houses in the 
proper condition so far as temperature is concerned. 
Although made at Poughkeepsie, the records are 
applicable to most sections where violets are grown. 



142 



TEMPERATURE AND VENTILATION 



Record oj Night and Day Temperatures and Sunshine /c 

five months 



Date. 
Dec, 1895. 



13 
14 

15 
16 

17 
18 

19 
20 
21 
22 

23 

24 

25 
26 

27 
28 
29 
30 
31 



Average, 
or mean . 



Night temperature. 

Degrees F. 
Readings at 7 a.m. 



Day temperature. 

Degrees F. 
Readings at 7 p.m. 



Max. 



46 

47 
47 
48 
48 
52 
53 
58 
58 
60 

54 
60 

54 
55 
57 
47 
52 
50 
60 



53 



Min. 


Mean. 


Max. 


Min. 


35 


40 


68 


54 


42 


44 


64 


39 


42 


44 


65 


44 


44 


46 


64 


43 


41 


44 


64 


44 


43 


42 


62 


46 


46 


49 


68 


46 


46 


52 


72 


52 


53 


55 


65 


53 


45 


54 


66 


44 


48 


5i 


65 


50 


46 


53 


70 


47 


50 


52 


59 


50 


49 


52 


62 


52 


44 


50 


67 


46 


42 


44 


60 


42 


44 


48 


56 


43 


40 


45 


5i 


43 


42 


51 


55 


44 


44 


48 


63 


46 



Mean. 



6l 
51 
54 
53 
54 
54 
57 
62 

59 
55 
57 
58 
54 
57 
56 
5i 
49 
47 
49 



55 



Sunshine 

(10 equals 
sunshine 

all day, 8 
equals 8-10 
of day, etc.) 



10 

7 
10 
10 

5 
10 

7 
4 
9 
6 

9 

7 

4 

10 

10 

7 
00 
10 



TEMPERATURE 



143 





Night 


temperature. 


Day temperature. 


Sunshine 




Degrees F. 


Degrees F. 




Date. 


Read 


mgs at 7 a.m. 


Readings at 7 p.m. 


(10 equals 


Jan., 1896. 








sunshine 
















all day, 8 




Max. 


Min. 


Mean. 


Max. 


Min. 


Mean. 


equals 8-10 
of day, etc.) 


I 


45 


40 


42 


58 


42 


50 


10 


2 


46 


40 


43 


6l 


44 


52 


9 


3 


47 


44 


45 


71 


46 


58 


9 


4 


46 


38 


42 


60 


40 


50 


10 


5 


41 


34 


37 


63 


33 


48 


10 


6 


40 


3i 


35 


64 


44 


54 


10 


7 


45 


38 


41 


49 


41 


45 


00 


8 


46 


38 


42 


61 


38 


49 


10 


9 


47 


38 


42 


47 


41 


44 


00 


10 


44 


40 


42 


61 


41 


5i 


8 


1 1 


47 


40 


43 


67 


47 


57 


00 


12 


47 


42 


44 


50 


47 


48 


10 


13 


47 


41 


44 


58 


39 


48 


10 


14 


47 


39 


43 


58 


39 


48 


10 


15 


47 


35 


41 


68 


36 


52 


10 


16 


46 


36 


41 


61 


41 


5i 


10 


17 


45 


38 


41 


59 


47 


53 


8 


18 


45 


39 


42 


66 


39 


52 


10 


19 


48 


44 


46 


55 


42 


48 


00 


20 


43 


40 


41 


61 


40 


50 


5 


21 


47 


40 


43 


56 


41 


48 


00 


22 


47 


40 


43 


63 


41 


52 


5 


23 


44 


41 


42 


58 


41 


49 


7 


24 


46 


41 


43 


49 


40 


44 


00 


25 


47 


46 


46 


49 


46 


47 


00 


26 


48 


45 


46 


55 


45 


50 


2 


27 


45 


41 


43 


66 


39 


52 


10 


28 


45 


38 


41 


56 


39 


47 


10 


29 


44 


36 


40 


65 


36 


50 


10 


30 


45 


40 


42 


66 


45 


55 


10 


3i 


45 


38 


41 


66 


39 


52 


9 


Average, 
or mean. .. 


46 


39 


42 


59 


41 


50 





i 4 4 



TEMPERATURE AND VENTILATION 





Night temperature. 


Day temperature. 


Sunshine 




Degrees F. 


Degrees F. 




Date. 


Readings at 7 


a.m. 


Readings at 7 p.m. 


(10 equals 


Feb., 1896. 








sunshine 














all day, 8 




Max. 


Mm. 


Mean. 


Max. 


Min. 


Mean. 


equals 8-10 
of day, etc.) 


I 


45 


42 


43 


55 


42 


48 


OO 


2 


50 


40 


45 


69 45 


57 


10 


3 


46 


38 


42 


53 39 


46 


OO 


4 


45 


42 


43 


52 42 


47 


OO 


5 


45 


42 


43 


57 


44 


50 


OO 


6 


49 


46 


47 


56 


47 


51 


OO 


7 


46 


42 


44 


59 


45 


52 


2 


8 


45 


42 


43 


7i 


44 


57 


10 


9 


46 


41 


43 


44 


42 


43 


OO 


10 


44 


38 


41 


70 


41 


55 


10 


1 1 


44 


38 


41 


56 


39 


47 


10 


12 


42 


38 


40 


65 


42 


53 


10 


13 


46 


42 


44 


47 


42 


44 


00 


14 


47 


38 


42 


57 


39 


48 


IO 


15 


47 


40 


43 


56 


42 


49 


IO 


16 


49 


38 


43 


62 


38 


50 


10 


17 


42 


35 


38 


63 


37 


50 


IO 


18 


42 


34 


38 


67 


42 


54 


IO 


19 


47 


39 


43 


54 


39 


46 


7 


20 


44 


37 


40 


57 


37 


47 


TO 


21 


44 


37 


40 


62 


37 


49 


IO 


22 


45 


39 


42 


62 


42 


52 


10 


23 


45 


37 


41 


60 


45 


52 


5 


24 


46 


41 


43 


63 


43 


53 


10 


25 


47 


39 


43 


62 


40 


5i 


10 


26 


44 


39 


41 


55 


41 


48 


00 


27 


44 


40 


42 


65 


40 


52 


10 


28 


44 


40 


42 


60 


41 


50 


4 


29 


5i 


44 


47 


5i 


49 


50 


00 


Average, 
or mean. .. 


46 


40 


43 


59 


42 


50 





TEMPERATURE 



145 





Night temperature. 


Day temperature. 


Sunshine 




Degrees F. 


Degrees F. 




Date. 


Readings at 7 a.m. 


Readings at 7 p.m. 


(10 equals 


Mar., 1896. 






sunshine 
















all day, 8 




Max. 


Min. 


Mean. 


Max. 


Min. 


Mean. 


equals 8-10 
of day, etc.) 


I 


51 


47 


49 


62 


44 


53 


00 


2 


51 


44 


47 


67 


42 


54 


5 


3 


43 


39 


41 


62 


39 


50 


7 


4 


44 


38 


41 


63 


36 


49 


10 


5 


45 


38 


41 


67 


43 


55 


10 


6 


44 


37 


40 


71 


38 


54 


10 


7 


5i 


44 


47 


64 


44 


54 


5 


8 


50 


41 


45 


59 


39 


49 


9 


9 


45 


38 


41 


64 


39 


5i 


5 


10 


44 


39 


41 


55 


40 


47 


5 


1 1 


43 


39 


41 


47 


41 


44 


00 


12 


44 


39 


41 


5i 


40 


45 


4 


13 


42 


36 


39 


62 


38 


50 


10 


14 


37 


34 


35 


67 


41 


54 


10 


15 


48 


38 


43 


61 


36 


48 


5 


16 


45 


39 


42 


56 


41 


48 


00 


17 


44 


41 


42 


61 


43 


52 


10 


18 


43 


34 


38 


60 


42 


5i 


10 


19 


45 


38 


41 


61 


41 


5i 


00 


20 


54 


42 


48 


57 


40 


48 


10 


21 


42 


38 


40 


60 


39 


49 


10 


22 


41 


37 


39 


67 


41 


54 


9 


23 


45 


35 


40 


57 


38 


48 


2 


24 


44 


35 


39 


64 


37 


50 


10 


25 


44 


38 


41 


67 


40 


53 


10 


26 


5i 


40 


45 


67 


48 


57 


10 


27 


47 


36 


41 


58 


40 


49 


10 


28 


49 


39 


44 


64 


42 


53 


10 


29 


47 


40 


43 


53 


44 


48 


00 


30 


47 


44 


45 


67 


44 


55 


5 


3i 


49 


44 


46 


80 


47 


63 


10 


Average, 
or mean . . . 


46 


39 


42 


62 


41 


51 





146 



TEMPERATURE AND VENTILATION 





Night temperature. 


Day temperature. 


Sunshine 




Degrees F. 


Degrees F. 




Date. 


Readings at 7 a.m. 


Readings at 7 p.m. 


(10 equals 
sunshine 


April, 1896. 














1 




all day, 8 




Max. 


Min. 


Mean. 


Max. 


Min. 


Mean. 


equals 8-10 
of day, etc.) 


I 


51 


39 


45 


60 


47 


53 


7 


2 


47 


42 


44 


54 


40 


47 


1 


3 


41 


35 


38 


67 


38 


52 


5 


4 


42 


36 


39 


55 


41 


48 


10 


5 


49 


37 


43 


69 


42 


55 


10 


6 


47 


46 


46 


57 


41 


49 


5 


7 


44 


39 


41 


57 


40 


48 


00 


8 


43 


39 


41 


65 


42 


53 


10 


9 


44 


37 


40 


47 


45 


46 


10 


10 


50 


42 


46 


68 


44 


56 


10 


11 


50 


39 


44 


70 


50 


60 


8 


12 


5i 


49 


50 


79 


51 


65 


9 


13 


50 


44 


47 


84 


50 


67 


9 


14 


60 


49 


54 


85 


60 


72 


10 


15 


67 


58 


62 


93 


65 


79 


10 


16 


70 


59 


64 


103 


69 


86 


10 


17 


69 


61 


65 


85 


64 


74 


9 


18 


72 


64 


68 


103 


72 


87 


9 


19 


7i 


61 


66 


92 


70 


81 


10 


20 


74 


64 


69 


94 


73 


83 


10 


21 


72 


63 


67 


9i 


70 


80 


4 


22 


69 


60 


64 


70 


43 


56 


8 


23 


47 


35 


41 


80 


57 


68 


10 


24 


60 


41 


50 


85 


59 


72 


9 


25 


54 


42 


48 


65 


54 


59 


5 


26 


55 


41 


48 


67 


53 


60 


10 


27 


58 


42 


50 


73 


58 


65 


10 


28 


59 


40 


49 


79 


60 


69 


5 


29 


64 


45 


54 


85 


65 


75 


9 


30 


57 


43 


50 


84 


58 


7i 


10 


Average, 
or mean . . . 


56 


46 


51 


76 


54 


65 





TEMPERATURE 147 

Average Temperatures. 



Night. 

December 48 

January 42 

February 42 

March 42 

April 51 



jay. 

55 


Degrees F. 


50 


" 






So 






<< 


51 




65 


<< 



I48 HANDLING AND MARKETING THE CROP 



CHAPTER VII 



HANDLING AND MARKETING THE CROP 

It must be borne in mind that to grow good 
flowers is not the only requirement for success. Af- 
ter the flowers are grown they must be marketed, 
and to do this successfully is one of the most im- 
portant matters with which we have to deal. Suc- 
cess in this particular respect is, in large measure, 
dependent upon the character and temperament of 
the man. Some men may be excellent growers and 
yet so lacking in personality and adaptability that 
they cannot deal with their customers in a satis- 
factory manner for any length of time. It is very 
often the case that such men blame everything but 
the right thing for their inability to get along and 
for the trouble they have, not only with the dealers 
that handle their stock, but with the men who work 
for them as well. There is little hope for such 
people until they can be brought to a realization of 
the fact that the difficulty is in themselves and not 
in the things around them. Learn, therefore, to 
adapt yourself to the conditions as you find them, 
and things will go much easier than when you 
attempt to mold all conditions to your way of 
thinking. 



MARKETING THE CROP I49 

At the outset it is necessary to study the needs 
of your market and try to meet them as fully as 
possible. When you start you will doubtless be a 
stranger— at least you will be regarded as such from 
a business point of view, for business is not prone 
to recognize sentiment in any of its dealings. You 
will therefore have to establish your ability to grow 
good stock, to grow it regularly, and to be able to 
put it into the hands oj your dealer when he wants it. 
This cannot be done in one or two years, but at the 
end of three or four seasons, if the work has been 
carried on in the right way, your reputation will 
have a fair start. 

It is perfectly feasible for a grower who knows 
his conditions and handles his plants properly, to tell 
by the first of October how many flowers he can 
furnish for the following six months; that is, he 
ought to know within two or three per cent, how 
many flowers he will have for October, November, 
December, and each succeeding month through 
March. Knowing this, he is in a position to deal in 
a business-like way with the man or men who handle 
his flowers, for it is as important for the dealer to 
know, to a reasonable certainty, what he can depend 
upon, as it is for the grower to know what he can 
furnish. Much of the complaint which arises about 
poor prices being received for flowers is not because 
the flowers are not good, but it is on account of the 
spasmodic way in which they are sent in, and the 




43 . — Violets bunched for Philadelphia market, some oj the flowers 
projecting from the bunch 



MARKETING I5I 

fact that they have to take their chances with a 
great mass of stock of this kind. Between the last 
purchaser or consumer and the grower there is a 
direct connection in this matter. Even though 
flowers are a luxury, customers soon learn where 
the supply is steady and the quality high. They 
recognize this, and are willing to pay for it. The 
dealer, in time, knows the growers he can depend 
upon, and can afford to pay them a higher price 
for their stock than the men who can give no re- 
liable assurance as to what they can furnish from 
one week to another. It is this very fact that 
emphasizes the importance of growing the plants 
in houses, for if they are in frames a snow storm or 
cold snap may close up everything for a week or 
more, and in the meantime the demand in the city 
has not diminished in the least. 

Outside of what has been said, however, there 
are many details that influence the success of dis- 
posing of stock. Every market has its peculiarities, 
and these must be studied and attended to. We 
cannot point out these conditions, for they vary so 
much, and change so often, that the matter is one 
that will have to be taken in hand by the grower 
himself. 

The methods of bunching, arranging of the 
leaves, and other matters all vary in different sec- 
tions, and we can only describe some of the more 
important ones here. Before proceeding to do this, 




44. — Violets bunched for Washington market, using Princess of 

W ales leaves 



MARKETING I53 

however, it would be well to consider more in detail 
some of the methods of disposing of the flowers. 
The grower may sell his flowers direct to the retailer, 
or he may dispose of them through the commission 
merchant. Each plan has its advantages and disad- 
vantages, and these we shall now point out. No one 
questions the fact that there are plenty of honest, 
straightforward business men in both lines. There 
are frauds, of course, but we meet them everywhere, 
and as soon as one is found out he should be dropped. 
The retailer pays for the flowers outright, and un- 
less the grower is in a position to demand something 
better he will get just half the retail price for his 
stock; that is, if violets are selling at two dollars per 
bunch of fifty flowers, the grower will get one dollar; 
if they are selling for one dollar, he will get fifty 
cents. This seems like a big margin of profit for 
the retailer, but in reality the risks are so many that 
it is about all he can afford to pay to the grower 
who cannot count on what he can furnish in the way 
of quantity or quality. On the other hand, the 
grower who conducts his business in the proper way 
can make up his schedule of prices at the beginning 
of the season, and the retailer, knowing his man, and 
that he can depend upon him, can afford to pay him 
more. In fact, the prices in such cases should, and 
will, run from twenty to twenty-five per cent, higher 
than in the first plan described. On the other hand, 
the grower who sells to the retailer has no opportu- 



154 HANDLING AND MARKETING THE CROP 

nity as a grower to enlarge his reputation, for the 
purchaser seldom knows who grows the stock. The 
fact is that a large portion of the purchasers have 
the innocent delusion that the retailer himself grows 
all the stock he sells. The grower, therefore, has no 
way of extending his reputation, and if anything 
should happen to the retailer who handles his flowers 
he will have to start over again with a new man, 
which is a thing not always easy to do. Again, the 
retailer must necessarily be more exacting in his de- 
mands. He has orders to fill at all times of the day, 
and every day in the week, and the grower must 
always be willing and ready to fill such orders. 

In selling through commission merchants the 
stock is put in competition with others, and its mer- 
its will always tell in the hands of a fair merchant — 
the only kind it pays to deal with. It is true that a 
commission must be paid, but where this is done, 
and the flowers are put up and delivered properly 
and in good shape, the net returns will equal those 
from the retailer. In selling through the commission 
merchant the grower has practically unlimited op- 
portunity for extending his reputation. Every ship- 
ment should indicate plainly who the grower is, and 
the retailers, who are constantly on the lookout for 
good material, soon learn where they can get it, and 
will pay for it accordingly. Furthermore, the grower 
in such cases can manage his business so as to pick 
his flowers at regular times, and all of the work 



PICKING 155 

about the place can therefore be put on a more sys- 
tematic basis. Where a grower is so situated that he 
can reach several good markets within one to eight 
hours, it would be best to combine the two plans, as 
may frequently be done. The nearest market, which 
he could reach daily perhaps in person, might be 
given up to dealing with the retailer, while the com- 
mission merchant could be used in the more distant 
markets. It is seldom desirable to sell to more 
than one retailer in a city, for if you have good 
stock, and your merchant is doing the proper 
amount of business, he can handle without difficulty 
all you can supply. He will furthermore do it 
better and more to your advantage than if you at- 
tempt to divide up your stock among several re- 
tailers. All these matters and many others will 
have to be studied by each individual, and if done 
intelligently the best and most profitable method 
will soon be learned. 

Coming now more particularly to the details of 
handling the crop, it must be understood that in ad- 
dition to being put up in an attractive manner, the 
violet, to sell at the best price, must have other 
qualities. The stems must be long, and the flowers of 
a good color, large, and — most important of all — 
they must be sweet. A violet without sweetness is not 
wanted anywhere, and a failure to recognize this 
leads to more trouble than any other one thing con- 
nected with the work. Violets, properly grown, are 



I56 HANDLING AND MARKETING THE CROP 

always sweet, but all the delicious odor may be lost 
through improper handling. The flower loses its 
odor rapidly as soon as it is removed from the plant, 
and the quicker it reaches the retailer's hands the 
sweeter it will be. Long-distance shipments, there- 
fore, are never satisfactory, for by the time the flow- 
ers reach their destination they have lost nearly all 
their odor. Ten to thirteen hours from the time of 
picking until the market is reached is practically the 
limit as far as relates to holding the sweetness of 
the flower. It is unwise, therefore, to pick the after- 
noon of one day, and after holding the flowers over 
night, ship the following morning. It is best, when- 
ever possible, to have the flowers picked early in 
the morning and reach market the same morning, 
or not later than the middle of the same afternoon. 
If picked late in the afternoon they should be 
shipped that night so as to be in the market early 
the next morning. 

The best times for picking are early in the morn- 
ing and late in the afternoon, that is, between six 
and eight o'clock in the morning and four and six 
o'clock in the afternoon. Different plans are adopted 
in picking and bunching. As a rule, fifty flowers are 
put in a bunch, and the bunch is then backed up 
with from twenty to twenty-five leaves and tied with 
violet-colored cord. It is customary in most estab- 
lishments to do this work directly in the beds. One 
or two men pick and tie the flowers temporarily in 



PICKING 157 

bunches of fifty. Another — more expert in shaping 
the bunches — unfastens the temporary tie, and, af- 
ter arranging the flowers in symmetrical and com- 
pact form, picks and adds the leaves, and the bunch 
is then tied permanently. After tying, the bunches 
are placed in pans of water six inches deep, with 
cross-bars of laths or other strips to hold the flowers 
and leaves out of the water. Placed in water in this 
way the flowers soon stiffen up, and, if kept cool, 
they lost little of their odor. 

Another method, and one we prefer to follow, is 
to pick the flowers and tie them roughly in bunches 
of one hundred. They are then carried immediately 
to a cool bunching room and placed in water. When 
all is ready they can be bunched by experienced 
hands and rapidly sorted at the same time. Work- 
ing in this way two men can pick and bunch from a 
thousand to twelve hundred an hour. This does not 
mean merely throwing the flowers together and ty- 
ing them with a string, but it involves the exercise 
of taste and judgment in having a symmetrical, yet 
compact, bunch tastefully surrounded by leaves 
arranged so as to present a neat margin of green. 
The question of bunching is an important one — so 
important, in fact, that it often makes a big dif- 
ference in the price obtained for the flowers. A 
little time spent in any of our wholesale markets 
shows this fact strikingly. Good flowers will come 
in poorly bunched, and with a few little straggling 



I58 HANDLING AND MARKETING THE CROP 




bo 






BUNCHING 159 

yellow leaves sticking out from the center. Such 
flowers, although good in themselves, are apt to 
bring fifty per cent. less than those from another 
source tastefully and attractively put up and prop- 
erly packed. Once in a while, too, in careless 
bunching, a faded or dirty flower is put in. This 
invariably spoils the bunch, and is very apt to 
knock off profits on the whole shipment. It would 
pay many growers who complain of poor prices to 
make weekly visits to their markets, and if they are 
at all alert they will soon learn that the trouble is 
not all with the much-abused commission man. So 
important is the matter of bunching that the grower 
himself ought to attend to it personally or at least 
see that every bunch receives his rigid inspection 
before it goes out of his hands. 

It is customary, in shipping, to pack either in 
return or gift boxes. Here, also, great care must be 
exercised to make the packages attractive, both on 
the outside and inside. The more common practice 
is to use return wooden boxes with hinged lids, each 
box holding from a thousand to one thousand five 
hundred flowers. The bunches, as they are taken 
from the water, have the stems wrapped in soft tis- 
sue paper. The stems are then dipped in water again 
and the bunches packed closely in the box, stems 
down. When propeily packed the flowers should 
not shake or mash. Finally the boxes are sealed 
and are labeled with the grower's name and address. 




46. — Leaves of California violet wired together for 
bunching Jlowers 



PACKING THE FLOWERS l6l 

Before beginning the packing the boxes are 
lined with newspapers, with oiled paper next to the 
flowers. In Winter great care has to be exercised to 
keep the flowers from freezing. It is often necessary 
to line the boxes with six or seven thicknesses of 
newspaper in order to keep out frost. In some cases 
felt is used, but newspapers, being always a^t hand, 
are more convenient, and besides are just as ser- 
viceable, and in some respects more desirable. 

In some cases a plan of packing flowers in wood- 
en boxes provided with trays is followed. Such trays 
are made about two inches deep, and have wire net- 
ting on the bottom. The mesh of the netting must 
be of sufficient size to allow the stems to project 
through. These make excellent shipping boxes, and 
by arranging two trays in a box, from one thousand 
to twelve hundred flowers can be shipped in one 
package. The same precautions to prevent frost in- 
juries must, of course, be exercised in this case. 

At this point it is well to emphasize the fact that 
no matter by what railroad the flowers are shipped, 
extra precautions must be taken to keep out frost. 
Although the packages may start out in a well- 
heated car, it is always difficult to foresee what will 
happen to them before they reach their destination. 
It is, therefore, necessary to keep a close watch on 
weather conditions, and make the packing in accor- 
dance with what the best judgment is in regard to 
the likelihood of a cold snap. 



I 62 HANDLING AND MARKETING THE CROP 

Another very satisfactory means of packing 
flowers was the one devised by P. H. Dorsett. 
Instead of the wooden boxes he used ordinary 
leatherette telescopes, which he had made to order. 
The description is as follows: The boxes are 
eighteen inches long, ten inches wide, and seven 
inches deep. The cover fits over the inside box, 




47. — Leatherette shipping box, open 

and the whole is fastened by a strap at each end. 
A handle is put on the top so that the package is 
very easily looked after by the expressmen and 
others who have to handle it. A wire frame is made 
to fit inside the box, the meshes of the wire being 
about half an inch square. Ten holes are cut in the 
wire, each two inches square, to take the bunches of 



PACKING THE FLOWERS 



163 



violets. The frame is made seventeen inches long, 
nine inches wide, and four inches deep. The stems 
of the bunches are inserted into the holes and the 
five hundred flowers packed neatly into the box. 
These packages save considerable expense in express 
charges. They are, of course, returned, and with 
good usage will probably last for several seasons. 




48. — Shipping box, showing wire screen for 
holding bunches 

The cost of these telescopes, complete, including 
wire, is about two dollars each. 

In cold weather, a second covering, which slips 
over the entire box, is used. In addition to this, 
quilts of cotton batting are employed, so that there 
is about an inch of frostproof material protecting 
the flowers. As in other cases, the stems of the vio- 
lets are wrapped in moist tissue paper and a layer of 



164 HANDLING AND MARKETING THE CROP 

oiled paper, which is put into the box before the 
flowers are inserted, keeps in the moisture and odor. 
It has been found by experience that such packages 
are handled more gently by expressmen, and the 
flowers, in all cases, reach their destination in excel- 
lent shape. Once in a while some are lost through 




49. — Shipping box, closed and strapped 



frost, but this seldom occurs except through the 
carelessness of the railroad people. 

The gift boxes, which are not returned to the 
grower, are usually made of three-eighth-inch pine. 
They are deep enough for the bunches in an upright 
position, and hold from eight hundred to one thou- 



SELLING THE FLOWERS 1 65 

sand flowers. After being packed and carefully 
nailed, they are wrapped with newspapers or other 
coverings to exclude the frost. These boxes have 
some advantages, but they also have many disad- 
vantages, chief of which may be mentioned the fact 
that the violets in them never make as good a show- 
ing as where they are in neat packages, such as 
already described. 

Almost all violets are now packed and shipped 
in corrugated paper boxes, each bunch of fifty or 
one hundred violet blooms of the higher grades 
being wrapped separately in a piece of wax paper. 
Three sizes of these boxes are in general use, namely, 
the large size holding from 2500 to 3000, the medi- 
um holding from 1500 to 2000, and the small hold- 
ing from 1000 to 1500 blooms. In very cold 
weather these boxes are lined firstly with several 
thicknesses of newspaper, secondly with tissue, 
and thirdly with wax paper, which comes, of course, 
next to the blooms. The box itself is wrapped 
in several thicknesses of heavy manila or other 
wrapping paper. 

Where the market can be easily reached, it is, 
of course, not necessary to exercise the precautions 
above mentioned in getting the flowers to their des- 
tination. In many cases it is practicable for the 
grower to take his stock to market in a wagon or to 
send or take it by train. This is especially the case 
when dealing with the retailer, and in such instances 




50. — Box oj violets packed for ynarket 
The illustration shows a box of fifteen bunches of Marie Louise violets 
packed for market. Each bunch contains 100 blooms and is covered with 
wax paper which completely envelops the flowers and is twisted below 
around the stalks. The bunches are then set with the flowers uppermost, 
so that they appear to be resting on the base of their stalks. Of course, 
the packing is compact, and the bunches cannot therefore shift very much. 
The box in which the flowers are packed is lined with ordinary newspapers 
and these also are brought in over the top of the bunches and the lid 
then fastened down. 



SELLING THE FLOWERS 1 67 

it is necessary only to see that the flowers are kept 
from frost and from being unnecessarily shaken or 
jarred. It is always best, however, to wrap the stems 
in moist paper, as it has been found by experience 
that by doing this the flowers are kept fresh and 
sweet much longer than they otherwise could be. 
We cannot emphasize too strongly the importance oj 
studying the markets. You must know what is wanted, 
and keep fully posted upon every detail in order to 
command the best prices. 

One feature of marketing violets may be cited 
here as a suggestion. It is given as a suggestion for 
the reason that so far as we know it has never been 
attempted in practice. There seems to be no reason 
why it would not be profitable to start what could be 
called a violet store in almost every city of fifty thou- 
sand or more inhabitants. In such cases it might 
not be necessary to use an entire storeroom for the 
purpose. Some of the large business houses might 
furnish the desired space, or else room could be pro- 
cured in other ways. It would, of course, be im- 
portant to be located in a good business section, the 
idea being to devote the entire work to the sale of 
violets, retail and wholesale. By exercising the 
proper taste in fitting up such a place, taking advan- 
tage of all new ideas in the matter of decorations, 
boxes, ribbons, etc., there seems to be no reason why 
such an establishment would not prove profitable. 
It should be the aim of the proprietor of such a 



l68 HANDLING AND MARKETING THE CROP 




SELLING THE FLOWERS 1 69 

place, of course, to attend closely to the wants of 
customers and to try out novelties either in varieties 
or make up. 

Throughout the entire work every precaution 
must be taken to keep the flowers away from all for- 
eign odors. A new pine box, for instance, may cause 
trouble. Any objectionable odor, in fact, either in 
the box, the paper, or the room where the work is 
carried on, is apt to be taken up by the flowers and 
to destroy their sweetness. 



170 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 



CHAPTER VIII 



DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

No hard and fast lines can be drawn between 
diseases and insect attacks. Strictly speaking, a 
disease is any derangement of the functions of the 
plant, be it caused by fungous attacks, insect in- 
juries, environment, or a combination of all. For 
convenience, we may discuss the subject under two 
heads, (i) diseases and their treatment, (2) insect 
enemies and methods of combating them. 

DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT 

Probably no other subject connected with violet 
growing has been so much discussed as the diseases. 
This is nothing more than might be expected, for the 
final effects of all proper or improper methods of 
cultivation are manifested either in the form of 
health or disease. The plant, in other words, is 
largely what the grower makes it, and if he thor- 
oughly understood his work there would be little 
need lor writing this chapter. This is equivalent to 
saying that the question is largely one of knowing 
how to make the conditions or environment so near- 
ly perfect as to preclude the possibility of disease. It 



DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT I 71 

must be understood, of course, that we are dealing 
with plants in a different way from what they are as 
we find them in the open air, where they are depend- 
ent on water, air, heat and light as furnished by 
nature. Under glass, man can not only do much to- 
ward getting just the plant he wants for the condi- 
tions he has, but can approach the problem from 
another direction and provide the conditions best 
for his plant. Let us make this point perfectly 
plain, for few growers appreciate it or realize the 
real power behind it. Theoretically it will be under- 
stood that if the needs of the plant and the environ- 
ment were exactly balanced, perfect growth would 
result. Going farther, it will be seen that if just the 
right conditions could be furnished at all times, and 
the plant, through its adaptability, were able to 
meet them exactly, growth would not only be per- 
fect, but life itself would be continuous. We cannot, 
of course, reach this ideal, but we can strive to ap- 
proximate it, and this is the gist of all that we have 
said in previous chapters on soil, watering, feeding, 
propagation, selection, etc.; so that when it really 
comes to discussing the diseases there is little ad- 
ditional to say, except to describe the way the plant 
behaves when diseased, and to point out the Inst 
line of action in order to once again restore the 
equilibrium existing between the plant on the one 
hand and its environment on the other. 

The really important diseases of the violet arc 



17-2 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

comparatively few in number, and in the order of the 
injuries they produce they may be given as follows: 
(i) spot, or spot disease; (2) wilt, or stem rot; (3) 
nanism, or stuntedness; (4) scald, or edge burn; (5) 
oedema, or wart disease; (6) crown rot; (7) root 
galls, and (8) bud nematodes. 

Spot, or Spot Disease. This is usually re- 
ferred to as "the violet disease," and is recognized by 
growers generally as the most serious enemy with 
which they have to deal. Much has been written 
about it, and many theories have been advanced as 
to its cause. There is no question that spot can be 
produced in many ways, and may result from the at- 
tacks of a number of different fungi. The true spot 
disease, however (the one which under certain con- 
ditions may sweep away an entire field or house of 
plants in a few weeks), has always associated with it 
a specific fungus. The fungus is found wherever 
there is true spot, and the spot occurs in this coun- 
try wherever the violet is grown. There can be no 
doubt as to the relation of this fungus to the disease, 
for time and time again the connection has been 
proved by careful scientific experiments. The fun- 
gus itself is a species of Alternaria*, and can be 
grown, watched, and handled as readily as the violet 
plant upon which it lives. The writer has never seen 



♦See Spot Disease of the Violet, Bulletin No. 23, Division of 
Vegetable Physiology and Pathology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, p. 11- 



SPOT, OR SPOT DISEASE 



173 



a house, a frame, or a field where this fungus was not 
present, and plants have been examined from Mas- 
sachusetts to California. Often spotted leaves are 
found on which even the microscope fails to reveal 




52. — Spot disease. Early effects on foliage 



the presence of the fungus externally. If these 
leaves are placed in moist air for twenty-four hours, 
however, an abundant crop of reproductive bodies 
will be found on the diseased areas. 



174 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

The effects of spot are so well known as to re- 
quire but little description to recognize them. The 
first effects, however, are usually overlooked, and it 
is really after the plant has in a measure succeeded 
in protecting itself that the attention of the grower 
is called to the injuries. Ordinarily the first indi- 
cation of a serious attack in a house or in a field is 
a peculiar odor wholly indescribable, but which, 
once experienced, will never be forgotten. It is 
sickening, and can be approximated by putting a 
lot of violet leaves in water, placing them in a 
warm room, and allowing them to wilt. 

An examination of the leaves when this odor 
is first noticed will reveal numerous greenish water- 
soaked spots, varying in size from a pin head to the 
blunt end of a lead pencil. There may be only one 
or two such spots on a leaf; then again the whole 
leaf and plant may be peppered. This is spot, and 
two or three badly affected plants in a house will 
make themselves known to the trained nostrils. 
Early in the morning, before the ventilators are 
raised, is the time to catch the odor, or else at night, 
after everything has quieted down. As the spots en- 
large, the central portion retains at first a pale 
greenish yellow color, soon becoming a pale buff, 
with a more or less distinct margin of umber. 
Surrounding this is a ring retaining some of the pale 
yellow green, but almost transparent. Imme- 
diately around this is a ring of a green slightly 



SPOT, OR SPOT DISEASE 



175 




53. — Spot disease on hardy English violets 



I76 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

paler than the surrounding portion of the leaf, but 
appearing darker when held between the observer 
and the light. 

Usually, when the spots have reached this 
stage, the semi-transparent ring either becomes 
transparent, in which case the marginal ring almost 
disappears, or else loses all its green, remaining a 
pale buff and retaining its marginal ring. Often 
several adjacent spots unite and form larger ones, 
but the centers of the uniting spots always remain 
distinct. Spots which have become entirely trans- 
parent except at the center may be included in the 
enlarging spots, remaining visible as transparent 
areas in the large buff spot. From the appearance 
of the small, sunken areas in the center of the spots 
many erroneous views as to the relation of insects 
to the disease have arisen. 

A few days of damp, cloudy weather will cause 
the development of reproductive bodies upon many 
of the spots. These appear to the naked eye as in- 
numerable blackish, tiny, hair-like points. Each 
spot is capable of producing thousands of the spores, 
and each spore is able, under the proper conditions, 
to germinate and grow, and in so doing infect a 
healthy leaf or a healthy portion of the same leaf. 
The spores, as a matter of fact, are wafted about in 
the air, and are constantly settling down on the 
plants, where they only await favorable conditions 
to grow into the leaf and produce other spots. We 



SPOT, OR SPOT DISEASE 



I77 



have made experiments which show that in ten 
hours of one night, under ordinary conditions 
existing in a greenhouse, fifty to sixty of these 



i 




~\ 






k'«* -v « 




S* J - jl 





54. — Spot disease artificially produced 

spores will settle on a space three inches in diameter. 
Every spore is able to produce a spot, and the only 
reason that they do not do so is probably because 
the conditions are unfavorable for development. 



I78 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

It is evident from what has been said that the 
more spotted leaves there are in a house the more 
chances there are for infection. Here, therefore, is 
one of the most important points in keeping the 
disease in cheek. Every spot must be removed and 
burned as soon as it is seen, and in no case must the 
diseased leaves be thrown into the walk or behind 
the pipes to rot and spread the fungus. When a leaf 
is badly affected it is best to remove it entirely, but 
when there are only a few spots on a leaf, these 
can be pinched or cut out and the rest of the 
leaf saved. 

It is folly to postpone this work, for every day 
adds to the chances against getting the disease under 
control. We do not advocate the application of any 
fungicide. We have tried many things, including 
Bordeaux mixture, lime, sulphur, ammoniacal solu- 
tion of copper carbonate, etc., but have never yet 
found any good evidence that they are beneficial. 

In addition to the strictest attention in keeping 
the plants clean, no effort should be spared to fur- 
nish the best conditions for growth. Attend rigidly 
to watering, ventilating and firing. Keep all water 
from the foliage, for wherever the leaves stay wet 
for seventeen to twenty hours successively, spot is 
pretty sure to develop. From the twentieth oi 
August until the twentieth of November is the 
period in which spot is most to be feared and 
watched. If the plants can be successfully brought 



SPOT, OR SPOT DISEASE 179 

through this period they arc practically safe, unless 
unusual conditions arise. 

From what has been said it will be seen how 
important it is to have the plants where they will at 
all times be under control. In frames and in fields, 
this is practically impossible, as there they are con- 
stantly exposed to rain and dew. Much benefit may 
be derived, however, by shading the plants in some 
way. Rain does not seem to give as much trouble 
as dew. This is probably owing to the fact that rain 
washes the spores from the leaves before they have 
an opportunity to germinate, while in the case of 
dew the moisture comes on so gradually that the 
very best conditions arc furnished for the germina- 
tion and development of the fungus. A shading of 
laths, or a screen of any kind, will often be sufficient 
to protect the plants from dew, and thus in a 
measure ward off the spot. However, it is of the 
highest importance that the plants be under cover 
as soon after the middle of August as possible; for 
wherever they arc left outside, the danger from 
infection is very much increased. 

Everything that has a tendency to weaken the 
foliage must be avoided. Too much fertilizer will 
often cause a tender growth of leaves, and when in 
such condition spot is very apt to appear if several 
days of warm, cloudy weather come on. One of the 
greatest sources of injury is tobacco in the form of 
smoke. Many growers use tobacco for combating 



l80 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

insects, but in our experience it is found very dan- 
gerous, and apt to cause serious trouble. The nico- 
tine in the tobacco has the power of weakening the 
tissues to such an extent that the spot fungus finds it 
an easy matter to infect the foliage. A light fumi- 
gation seldom produces any injury, but where 
several fumigations are made in close succession 
damage is almost sure to result. Spraying the leaves 
with tobacco water is apt to produce similar effects, 
and for this reason we have abandoned the use of 
tobacco entirely. 

Much evidence could be adduced to show the 
deleterious action of tobacco, but it is not necessary 
to go into details upon this matter, as one or two 
examples will suffice. In one instance green aphis 
was causing considerable trouble in our houses, and 
in order to destroy it we fumigated heavily with 
tobacco for two or three nights. Immediately fol- 
lowing the fumigation spot appeared to an alarming 
extent, and it required several months of hard work 
and extra precautions to get rid of it. We did not 
realize at the time the connection of the fumigation 
with the trouble, but afterward it was brought to 
our attention in a number of other ways, and has 
been proved many times since. 

Finally, it may be said that if careful attention 
has been given to cultural work throughout the en- 
tire season, little trouble need be apprehended from 
this disease. It is only where the grower has been 



WILT, OR STEM ROT l8l 

careless in certain directions that trouble is likely to 
ensue. Many have the unfortunate habit of neglect- 
ing little details here and there, and then when the 
disease appears making a gigantic effort to get rid 
of it. If attention had been given to minor matters 
throughout the entire season the chances are that 
the disease would not have appeared, and that there 
would have been no serious loss in consequence. 
When the disease has reached a severe form, the 
flowers are practically worthless, and the only thing 
that can be done is to put forth every effort to get 
the plants into a healthy condition as soon as pos- 
sible. Briefly, therefore: Keep the plants at all 
times in a healthy growing condition. Rigidly 
destroy all diseased parts of the plant. Never apply 
water to the leaves in such a way tha.t they cannot dry 
in from Jour to five hours. Keep the leaves free from 
dew. Avoid fumigation with tobacco, but if tobacco 
is used make the smoke as light as possible. 

Wilt, or Stem Rot. Next in importance to 
spot is wilt, or stem rot. In fact, in many sections 
the stem rot causes more trouble than the spot. The 
disease is, as a rule, confined to the stems, although 
it frequently attacks the roots, but it never produces 
the injury there that it does when the stems are 
affected. We have rarely seen a plant wholly free 
from this trouble, although in many instances it 
does not produce any appreciable injury. This 



182 



DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 



disease is also due to a fungus, which lives in the 
tissues, and about which comparatively little is 




55. — Rooted Campbell cuttings, showing effects of Tbielavia on the 
roots. Plant on left diseased, plant oti right healthy 

known. So far, we know it chiefly through its 
effects, and there can be no doubt as to the relation 



WILT, OR STEM ROT 1 83 

of the particular species to the disease in question. 
The fungus is known as Thielavia basicola Zopf, and 
it attacks other plants besides the violet. It un- 
doubtedly is able to live at certain times on decaying 
organic matter; in fact, it is found in portions of 
leaves, straw, and other materials occurring in the 
sand and soil. From the fact that it occurs on bits 
of decaying leaves it is important to have the 
propagating sand absolutely free from organic 
matter. Infection in a great many cases takes 
place in the propagating bed and soil. The cutting 
may root readily, and to the casual observer may 
appear sound, but it is infected, nevertheless, and 
later on will show the trouble. . 

Plants affected with this disease may make a 
good growth throughout the Summer and show no 
evidence of trouble until September, or perhaps Oc- 
tober, when they will wilt more or less during the 
warmer portions of the day, and revive during the 
night. This may go on for a week or more, but 
finally they wilt completely and die. An examina- 
tion of such plants shows that the main stem has 
been practically girdled by the fungus, and that 
both the water and the food supply have thereby 
been effectually cut off. The alternate wilting and 
reviving of the plants is due to the fact that the 
fungus does its work slowly, and thus it requires 
considerable time to completely encircle the stem. 
The fact of the matter is, a plant of this kind is 



184 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

probably infected early in its life, and for months 
the fungus slowly grows, gradually destroying cell 
after cell, until finally the plant collapses. 

Unquestionably another fruitful source of in- 
fection comes about through the practice of pulling 
off partly decayed leaves from the young plants as 
they are growing. It is, of course, necessary to keep 
the plants clean, but in all cases a knife should be 
used for trimming both leaves and cuttings. If a 
leaf is pulled off it frequently leaves a scar on the 
stem, and this scar offers an excellent opening for 
the fungus, which is likely to be present in the soil 
or on decaying bits of organic matter surrounding 
the plant. If the leaf is cut off, leaving a short 
stem, the wound heals before the fungus has an 
opportunity to gain entrance. 

The method of propagation has an important 
bearing on the trouble, and for this reason we have 
been profuse in our statements regarding the im- 
portance of using only vigorous stock. The practice 
of dividing the plants carries some of the disease 
over each year, and it will be seen that if this is kept 
up it is only a question of time when the stock will 
become so weakened as to be practically worthless. 
The advantage of rooting cuttings in sand that is 
absolutely clean is also apparent, for in such cases 
the fungus, which might be in the young roots taken 
from the soil, is eliminated. Where the plants are 
simply divided, and even where they are removed as 



NANISM, OR STUNTEDNESS 1 85 

offshoots early in the Spring, the young roots often 
show the disease. The difficulty, however, is most 
serious where the fungus has attacked the stem, for 
in such cases the plant will eventually succumb. 
When a rootlet is once affected it may be destroyed 
and still the working of the plant need not neces- 
sarily be seriously interfered with. Continuous use 
of the same soil is also a fruitful source of propa- 
gating the disease. The longer the soil is used, of 
course, the more decaying roots there will be pres- 
ent, and the more chances for infection through such 
material. 

Summarizing, therefore, the principal ways of 
holding this disease in check are careful attention to 
the propagation of stock, extreme care as to the kind 
of sand and soil employed, and the exercise of rigid 
precautions in the matter of examination of plants 
before they are finally set in the beds. 

Nanism, or Stuntedness. The dwarfing and 
stunting of a plant is not generally looked upon as a 
disease. Nevertheless, so far as we are concerned, 
it is a true disease, because it has a marked effect in 
reducing the income. It is not uncommon to find 
among a number of violet plants some which show 
quite different characters from the ordinary, so far 
as size is concerned. In such cases the whole plant is 
more or less dwarfed. The leaves are small, the leaf 
stalks are short, and the offshoots which go to 



i86 



DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 



make up the crown are also short. When such a 
plant blooms the flower stalks are also short, and 
the flowers, in most cases, are small. Of course, this 
dwarfing or stuntedness varies much in degree. 




56. — Plants stunted by strong fertilizer 

Some plants will not be more than one-fourth the 
normal size, while there will be all grades between 
this and where the dwarfing is so slight as to be 



NANISM, OR STUNTEDNESS I 87 

hardly recognizable. An examination of such plants 
reveals the fact that no external agencies in the 
nature of fungi or insects have caused the trouble. 
The roots appear to be free from organisms of all 
kinds, and the stems and leaves are also free, except 
in some cases where red spider may be present, 
but not in sufficient quantity to account for the 
dwarfed growth of the plants. 

This dwarfing or stunting may be brought 
about by a number of causes. Anything in fact 
which has a tendency to check growth may result in 
permanent dwarfing, but it is particularly at the 
time when the plant is young that injury is likely to 
occur. It sometimes happens that the cuttings when 
taken from the parent plant are not fully mature, 
and if rooted in sand or soil at this time they will 
never make as strong or vigorous plants as those 
made from fully ripened wood. Again, the wood 
may become so hard that its growth is to a certain 
extent fixed. Such a cutting would also be apt 
to produce a dwarfed plant, for the reason that the 
check which it has received can never be entirely 
overcome. On the other hand, the wood may be of 
the proper nature, and the cutting, in all other re- 
spects, good, and yet in handling after it is separated 
from the parent plant, certain checks may be 
brought about which will result in permanent in- 
jury and a dwarfed or stunted plant. Too much or 
too little water in the propagating bed may bring 



I 88 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

about these results. Lack of water is often a fruitful 
source of injury in this connection. The plants do 
not necessarily have to be dried out to such an ex- 
tent that they wilt, but the gradual withholding of a 
sufficient amount of water has a tendency to cause 
all the growing cells to assume a fixed form, and 
from this they never recover, even after they are 
moved into more favorable conditions. After the 
plants are rooted, furthermore, injuries of the same 
kind may occur. 

It may happen that in planting, warm weather 
comes on, and as a result it is difficult to keep the 
plants supplied with a sufficient amount of moisture, 
and the roots, in consequence, will be injured. This 
results finally in a permanent check, from which the 
plant never fully recovers. Furthermore, if plants 
are exposed to too much bright sunlight they are apt 
to become stunted on account of the intensity of 
both heat and light. This shows the necessity of 
some kind of shade through the growing season, for 
the violet naturally does not grow in the open, but, 
as a rule, is found in shady, moist places, away from 
the dire effects of the sun. 

From what has been said in regard to the cause 
of the trouble, the means of preventing it will be- 
come apparent. Every effort should be put forth to 
keep the plant in a thoroughly healthy growing con- 
dition from the time it is started until it is thrown 
out in the Spring. No checks of any kind should be 



SCALD, OR EDGE BURN I 89 

allowed, for the more there are of these the more 
likely is the output of flowers to be reduced. This 
only emphasizes the statement already made, that 
diseases are largely the result of improper methods 
of culture and the overlooking of important facts in 
regard to handling the plants. 




57. — Edge burn, brought on by cold soil 

Scald, or Edge Burn. This disease, as a rule, 
is not serious, although under certain conditions it 
may become quite troublesome and materially affect 
the yield of flowers. It manifests itself first by the 
edges of the leaves turning a yellowish green. A few 
days later this color may gradually fade out to al- 
most white, and eventually the entire edge of the 
leaf will become a papery whitish color. The trouble 
is usually confined to a rim running around the 



190 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

outer edge of the leaf. This rim varies in width from 
one-sixteenth to one-quarter of an inch. Under ex- 
ceptional circumstances nearly the entire leaf may be 
involved, and there is then left only a small green 
area in the center. Once the injury is done there 
is, of course, no remedy, and all efforts should be 
made to keep the plants in such a condition that the 
trouble cannot be brought on. 

One serious after effect of the difficulty is the 
liability of the plant to be attacked by a number of 
species of fungi. Although fungi are not the direct 
cause of the trouble, there are many species which 
will attack partly dead tissues and from them extend 
into the healthy parts of the leaf. It is not uncom- 
mon, therefore, to find plants affected with this 
scald, or edge burn, collapsing from the effects of 
fungi which have first attacked the diseased por- 
tions and through them have gained sufficient 
strength to destroy the unaffected parts of the 
leaves. 

A species ofBotrytis is very apt to work on such 
affected parts, especially if the weather is damp and 
the sun does not shine for several days in succession. 
The tissues, in such cases, get soft and slimy, and it 
is very difficult to keep the plants clean. 

The trouble may be brought on by a number of 
causes. It is often the result of using strong liquid 
manure, either organic, or in the form of chemical 
fertilizers. Such liquids, when applied to the soil 




58.— Leaves _ and flowers injured by Botrytis 



192 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

and roots, seem to temporarily check the latter to 
such an extent that they cannot take up water or 
food. In case the sun is warm at such times, and 
the light bright, the young and tender portions of 
the leaves, namely, the edges, will not have sufficient 
moisture to serve for growth. If these conditions 
continue, the moisture stored in the cells is used up, 
and then the latter collapse as a result. The disease 
may be brought on by allowing the soil to get too 
cold. It is quite common to see plants next to the 
outer walls of the house showing this difficulty. This 
is especially the case where there is no air space 
between the bed proper and the outer wall. The cold 
from the outside is sufficient to stop the proper work- 
ing of the roots, and in consequence the parts of the 
plant above ground suffer as described. 

In certain types of heavy soils, that is, soils 
containing too much water, the trouble is likely to 
occur. It must be understood that the roots of plants 
require air as well as water. If all or nearly all the 
air spaces in the soil are filled up with water the roots 
will suffocate and the plants, in consequence, suffer. 
The difficulties resulting from cold soil can easily be 
overcome, for the reason that it is rarely found ex- 
cept around the edges of the house. A board set in so 
as to intervene between the wall and the soil outside 
is often sufficient to prevent the trouble. It is better, 
however, to have two boards, with a space of four 
or five inches between. This allows an air space, 



OEDEMA, OR WART DISEASE 1 93 

and the air in the house is sufficiently warm to keep 
the soil in the beds next to the board warm enough 
for root growth. 

By attending to the conditions mentioned, look- 
ing carefully after watering, and seeing that the soil 
is not too heavy, little trouble need be feared from 
this disease. 

Oedema, or Wart Disease. This trouble often 
proves quite serious, but is easily kept under control 
by the proper handling of the plants. The affected 
plants show wart-like growths over the leaves, and 
these are usually of a brownish coJor. These warty 
growths vary in size, some of them being quite small 
and others one-eighth of an inch long and one- 
sixteenth of an inch high. The corky growths are 
not confined wholly to the leaves. In fact, they fre- 
quently occur on the leaf stalks, and sometimes on 
the flower stalks also. It is found that where these 
warty formations are developed the whole leaf is in 
a peculiar condition. It is brittle, and when taken 
in the hand cracks very easily. The leaves, in other 
words, instead of having a live, elastic feel, appear 
to the touch to be dry like a shaving, and when bent 
will break with a cracking noise. Wherever a break 
of this kind occurs the corky growth appears in time. 
The corky formations may also develop wherever an 
insect punctures the leaves. The punctures of 
aphides and the bites of spiders cause many of these 



194 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

swellings. When the plants get into this condition it 
is practically unfit for flowering, and when badly dis- 
eased it is very difficult to ever get it into proper 
shape again. The trouble is one that is brought on 




59. — Oedema, or ivart disease 

gradually by improper relations between the 
moisture of the soil, moisture of the air, and the 
light. 



OEDEMA, OR WART DISEASE 195 

Where plants are mulched and the soil kept 
constantly wet the trouble is likely to follow, es- 
pecially if heavy shading is adopted. Where the 
plant is grown for some time under these conditions 
all of its tissues get into a dropsical or oedemic 
state, and it needs only an injury of some kind to 
cause the formation of the wart-like growths. If the 
conditions are very favorable, injuries are not 
necessary for the wart-like growths, as they will be 
produced by the plant without intervention of any- 
thing of this kind. This is due to the fact that the 
plant is really making an abnormal effort at growth, 
and the warts are nothing more than excessive 
growth of the cells at particular points. This 
trouble seldom occurs in houses properly lighted 
and ventilated. In underground pits, and in out- 
door frames where heavy shading is used, it is apt 
to occur, especially if the practice of mulching is 
adopted. 

By paying proper attention to light, ventila- 
tion and watering, little or no difficulty is experi- 
enced from the trouble. In case it is seen that 
plants are becoming oedemic it will be necessary to 
modify at once the surroundings to such an extent 
as to admit more light to the leaves and more air 
to the soil. It will not do, however, to bring about 
these changes too rapidly. Light should be gradu- 
ally given, and the amount of water added to the 
soil should be slowly diminished. If the change is 



196 



DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 



too abrupt, serious consequences may result, as the 
plant, having been grown under such abnormal 
conditions, is not able to withstand the unusual 




60. — Example 0/ crown rot 



exposure to bright light and dry soil which the sud- 
den change might bring about. 



CROWN ROT 197 

Crown Rot. This trouble is very apt to 
occur after the opening of the blooming season, es- 
pecially if the crowns are heavy and too much water 
is used for syringing or for other purposes. It is 
often found in houses made of sash, where the drips 
keep the crowns of the plant constantly wet for days 
at a time. In such cases the inner or youngest leaves 
of the crown become softened, and through the ac- 
tion of several species of fungi are in a short time 
reduced to a soft, slimy mass. 

The trouble is sometimes quite serious, as all 
the young inner growth is destroyed and the flower 
buds, of course, perish with them. The difficulty, 
as already pointed out, is brought about largely by 
the improper use of water. Of course, in houses 
where there are many drips it is impossible to keep 
the crowns dry. As soon as the trouble is noticed, 
however, the diseased leaves should be cleaned out, 
as rapidly as possible, the remaining leaves pushed 
apart, and the crowns opened so as to admit light 
and air. Where the crowns are very heavy some 
advantage may result by trimming out part of the 
leaves, but this, of course, will more or less inter- 
fere with the flowering of the plant. 

A mixture of equal parts of air-slaked lime and 
flowers of sulphur is frequently beneficial in cases 
of this kind. The two materials should be thor- 
oughly mixed and thrown into the crown with con- 
siderable force so as to reach the rotting parts. Lime 



I98 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

alone is beneficial, but the sulphur has a tendency to 
destroy the fungi present and in a measure to check 
the growth of other organisms. In properly con- 
structed houses, where the drip is reduced to a mini- 
mum, little difficulty is ever experienced from this 
disease. The trouble is, of course, much more apt 
to be serious where the plants are overgrown, and 
for this reason the directions given in regard to 
proper time of planting and the handling of the 
plants should be closely followed. 

Root Galls. Although this disease is caused 
by a minute parasitic worm, it is classified with 
diseases for the reason that it affects the entire 
plant, and could not be properly treated under the 
heading of insects. Plants badly infested with nema- 
todes are apt to show a dwarfed growth, the leaves 
being small and the leaf stalks and flower stalks 
short. This is what might be expected from the fact 
that these minute parasites attack the roots, and, 
through their action on them, cut off the food sup- 
ply. The infested plants, upon being removed from 
the soil, show on the rootlets innumerable small 
nodules, varying in size from a pin head to a large 
pea. Although nematodes are considered by some 
writers as a great menace to violet growing, we have 
never seen any serious injury produced by them. In 
fact, our experience leads us to believe that nema- 
todes, instead of being actually injurious, are more 



ROOT GALLS 



199 



apt to be beneficial. We cannot speak, of course, 
of the effects of nematodes where the soil has been 
allowed to become full of them through neglect and 
other causes. Where the soil has not been properly 




61. — Koot Galls 

handled, or where it is allowed to remain in use for 
several years, nematodes are very apt to infest it to 
such an extent as to become a serious pest. Ordi- 
narily, however, where the soil is changed every 



200 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

year, and where new plants are put in each season, 
the nematodes are not sufficiently numerous to 
prove really serious. It often happens that some of 
the best flowering plants will show quantities of 
nematodes on the roots at the close of the season. So 
far as appearances go, such plants show no indica- 
tion whatever of diseases, and if it were not for the 
effect of the nematodes it is very probable that 
vegetative growth would have been so excessive as 
to have interfered seriously with the formation of 
flower buds. We look, therefore, on nematodes as in 
a measure being able to keep the proper balance be- 
tween root growth and leaf growth. They act partly 
as root pruners, so to speak, and by their action have 
a tendency to cause the plants to throw their energy 
toward flowering rather than toward leaf produc- 
tion. We would not have it inferred from this that 
we advocate encouraging the attacks of nematodes, 
but we do not believe it desirable to go to any great 
expense, such as steaming the soil, for the purpose 
of holding them in check. If the soil is properly 
handled, and allowed to freeze thoroughly once or 
twice in the early part of the season, a large num- 
ber of the nematodes are probably destroyed. How- 
ever, no matter what action of this kind is taken 
there will always be some present, but they need not 
cause any serious uneasiness. 

We have experimented with sterilized soil and 
have been able to grow plants practically free from 



BUD NEMATODES 201 

the worms. Such plants made a most remarkable 
growth and the leaf development was so great that 
it seriously interfered with the production of flowers. 
Furthermore, we found that the plants were making 
such rapid growth and were becoming so tender and 
soft at the approach of the spot season that great 
difficulty was experienced in warding off this disease. 
On the whole, this question may be summed up by 
saying that by proper attention to the care of the 
soil and of the plants little trouble need be appre- 
hended from nematodes, and it will not be necessary 
to adopt the expensive method of sterilizing the soil. 

Bud Nematodes. Within recent years a very 
serious disease has appeared in many parts of the 
country, affecting all kinds of violets, but particu- 
larly the double forms. The disease is one that 
has been present for a number of years, but owing 
to its obscure nature and cause has been generally 
overlooked, the trouble being attributed to other 
causes in all probability. The disease manifests 
itself by the gradual disappearance of the crown 
of the plant, and, of course, if no crowns are formed 
no flowers are produced. The plants " go blind,' 
and although they make feeble growth, they are 
practically worthless. Frequently the disease is 
found in houses, affecting only a plant here and 
there. Then, again, it may be more or less com- 
mon on all plants, affecting some, of course, more 



202 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

than others. It can be noticed on very young 
plants, even on cuttings before they are well 
rooted. The disease is produced by a minute eel 
worm or nematode, similar to the one which 
causes the root galls. The life history of this small, 
parasitic worm is obscure. It is found abundantly 
in the young buds, and through its action on them 
causes the growing tip to abort, thus producing the 
so-called blind crowns. In the South, it is one of 
the worst enemies now confronting the violet 
grower, and every precaution should be taken to 
keep it in check. Experiments that have been made 
lead us to believe that very little benefit is to be 
derived from the application of any substance such 
as lime, sulphur, etc. The nematode is so thor- 
oughly protected by the tissues of the leaf that it 
cannot be reached by any such treatment. Neither 
can it be affected by fumigations or by spraying 
with liquids. Some success has been secured by 
the application of a weak solution of formalin or 
formaldehyde, but a continuous use of this prepara- 
tion injures the crown so that the treatment may 
cause more trouble than the disease. The only 
suggestion that can be given at this time in the 
matter of treatment is to exercise most rigid care 
in making cuttings, and to see to it that no stock 
is taken from a diseased crown. It is best in all 
cases where the plants become diseased with nema- 
todes to pull them out at once and burn them. This 



RED SPIDER 203 

may seem like a hardship at first, but it is the only 
safe plan to follow. By constantly weeding out 
the diseased plants and carefully selecting the 
stock, it is believed practicable, in a measure, to 
keep the disease in check. The necessity and im- 
portance for doing this will become apparent when 
it is known that evidence points strongly to the 
fact that the nematodes may be scattered from 
plant to plant by the hands, either while picking 
the flowers or cleaning the plants. Attention has 
already been called, under the subject of propaga- 
tion, to the method of taking plants which have 
already rooted from the crowns, and setting out 
such plants directly in soil. 

INSECTS AND OTHER PESTS. 

Red Spider. This little pest, which is really 
not a spider but a mite, is one of the worst enemies 
with which violet growers have to deal. It is present 
at all seasons of the year and is ready at all times 
to begin its destructive work if allowed to do so. 
It is difficult to estimate the damage these mites do 
to plants, for the reason that it is seldom that any 
plants are entirely free from them, and no fair com- 
parisons can therefore be made. Ordinarily, when 
there are only a few of the mites present, the plants 
show no external evidence of their attacks. As the 
numbers increase, however, the leaves gradually be- 
come yellowish and dwarfed, and eventually the 



204 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

whole plant succumbs unless action is taken to rid 
it of the pest. 

Cuttings or young rooted plants are especially 
liable to be seriously injured by spider. This is par- 
ticularly true in Spring after the growing season 
starts. The mites multiply rapidly at this time, and 
unless the plants are carefully watched they will 
soon be so badly infested that it will be exceedingly 
difficult to restore them to a normal condition. In 
fact, it is questionable ij a plant once badly infested 
with spiders can ever be restored to the normal state. 
The mites by their action slowly reduce vitality, and 
not only one, but all functions of the plant are prob- 
ably more or less affected by them. In this way the 
whole nature of the plant is more or less changed, 
as it is really suffering from a slow starvation. It 
will be seen, therefore, that the ultimate effects will 
be a checking or stunting of some kind, and, as 
already pointed out, everything of this nature must 
be carefully avoided. 

On plants which have been grown the entire 
Winter in a house, or even in frames, the mite some- 
times develops to such an extent in late Spring as to 
entirely destroy all growth. Millions of spiders will 
be found on the foliage, and their webs, which are 
rarely seen under ordinary conditions, stretch from 
plant to plant, and spiders of all sizes will be found 
passing rapidly over them and congregating in 
swarms like bees. 



RED SPIDER 



205 



An examination of the leaves of violets infested 
with spiders show mites of various sizes, and the 
eggs from which they are hatched will also be found 




62. — Red Spider (magnified several hundred diameters) 

present in varying numbers. Ordinarily, the eggs 
are spherical and almost colorless. Under a slight 
magnification they appear like little globules of dew, 
but upon touching them they are found to have rela- 



206 



DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 



tively firm walls. The eggs are not hatched for 
eight or ten days after being deposited, the length of 
time depending in a large measure on warmth and 
other surroundings. When newly hatched the 




63. — Nozzle used in spraying plants for the destruction 
of red spider 

spiders are very light in color; in fact, it is difficult 
to distinguish them from the masses of web and the 
yellowish portions of the affected leaf. As the spiders 



RED SPIDER 207 

grow older they molt several times, and finally at- 
tain full size, when their color is more or less yellow- 
ish red. The color, however, varies greatly, and it is 
seldom that any lots on two different plants are 
found to be exactly alike. 

The mites are exceedingly difficult to kill, and 
for this reason great care must be exercised in not 
allowing them to attain sufficient numbers to seri- 
ously check the growth of the plants before putting 
forth efforts to destroy them. It is the general be- 
lief among florists that spiders do not thrive in moist 
air, but this does not seem to be the case, for if 
proper conditions are present moist air alone is not 
sufficient to hold them in check. 

Tobacco, either in the form of smoke, or ap- 
plied in other ways, has little effect upon the mites 
themselves, and probably does not injure the eggs in 
the least. Fumigation, therefore, is useless in this 
connection. What is true of tobacco will also hold 
good with other poisonous gases, such as cyanide 
gas, which is now coming into general use for green- 
house work. When we first commenced using the 
cyanide gas we were hopeful that it would prove 
valuable in destroying spider. It is true that spiders 
subjected to the fumes of this gas are stupefied for 
a time, but they soon recover, and in a few hours 
are as active as ever. 

Soaps of all kinds are effective in destroying 
both old and young mites, and also kill a large pro- 



208 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

portion of the eggs. On account of the difficul- 
ties in using soap, however, it cannot be general- 
ly recommended, but for certain purposes, which 
will be referred to later, it will be found very 
useful. 

Water applied to the foliage is the only effective 
remedy that can be depended upon for this pest. It 
must be applied, however, with considerable force, 
the object being to wash both mites and eggs from 
the leaves. To do this successfully, and at the same 
time not injure the plants and not bring about con- 
ditions favorable for other diseases, such as spot, is 
a difficult problem. The chief point in this work is 
to keep the spiders so thoroughly in check that by 
the time the plants have attained nearly their full 
growth in the Fall, that is, by the middle of Septem- 
ber, spraying can be entirely stopped, and from that 
time on during the Winter little or no water need 
be applied to the foliage. We have found that where 
spiders are washed from the leaves a certain per cent, 
of them get back. Many are killed by the direct 
crushing action of the water, and thousands not 
destroyed in this way are knocked off into the soil 
and probably starve to death before they can again 
reach food. From two to three per cent, of all mites 
on the leaves manage to get back, however, and this 
shows the importance and necessity of constant 
attention in the matter of spraying. 

If the young plants are perfectly free from 



RED SPIDER 209 

spider when set out in the Spring it is comparatively 
easy to keep them so by spraying from two to three 
times a week for the rest of the growing season. 
However, if cuttings are rather badly infested with 
spider, we recommend their treatment before plant- 
ing with a solution of soap. We have tried many 
soaps, but the best results have been obtained from 
Ivory soap, used at the rate of one five-cent cake 
to six or seven gallons of water. The soap should 
be shaved up with a small plane and dissolved with 
about one gallon of hot water, and then sufficient 
cold water added to make the quantity mentioned. 
By using a small hand spraying pump, which can 
readily be purchased in the market for four dollars 
and fifty cents to five dollars, the leaves can be thor- 
oughly wetted with the soap solution at a compara- 
tively slight expense in the matter of material. Five 
gallons, in fact, will be sufficient to treat three or 
four thousand cuttings, provided they are in flats 
and are easily within reach. Allow the soap to re- 
main on the plants two or three hours, then thor- 
oughly syringe with clear water. This treatment 
should be repeated two or three times, until the 
spiders and eggs have been destroyed. When used 
in this way the soap has no deleterious effects on the 
plants and has a tendency to protect and clean the 
foliage much better than any preparation we have 
used. Tobacco water is sometimes used for this pur- 
pose, and a tobacco solution made from an extract 



210 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

is also applied. We do not recommend these prepa- 
rations, however, because they have a tendency to 
weaken the foliage. 

It must be understood that it is not safe to use 
strong soaps, such as whale oil and soft soaps, be- 
cause they are very apt to injure the foliage and are 
not so active in killing the mites as the Ivory soap. 
Spiders treated with Ivory soap die in one or two 
minutes after the solution is applied. When viewed 
under a microscope, full-grown spiders show anxiety 
to get rid of the soap as soon as it reaches them. 
This lasts only for a few seconds, however, and then 
the spider quickly folds its legs beneath itself and for 
a few seconds there may be some violent movements 
of the legs and other parts of the animal. Even if 
moved to fresh water a few minutes after soap is 
applied, they seldom revive, which shows how 
effectually the soap operates. 

For cuttings, therefore, the soap solution, as 
recommended, will be found exceedingly valuable. 
We do not consider it advisable to continue the ap- 
plication of soap throughout the entire season, for 
the reason that we believe it has a tendency to inter- 
fere with growth. After the plants are put out, 
however, spraying with water should be regularly 
practiced, as before described, and for this pur- 
pose it will be found desirable to devise some means 
of getting on the minimum amount of water with 
the maximum amount of force. It will require a 



RED SPIDER 21 I 

pressure of at least twenty to twenty-five pounds to 
prove effective against spider. To get the water on, 
however, without drenching the beds, is often a 
rather difficult matter, and for this reason we have 
devised a simple spraying tip, which is found to 
answer the purpose admirably. This spraying tip 
may be attached to the end of a three-quarter-inch 
hose, or, where the beds are wide, we prefer to use 
a short lance made of light brass pipe. This lance 
is one-quarter inch in diameter and usually about 
two feet long. The spraying tip is fastened to one 
end, while the other end is provided with a connec- 
tion to screw on to the three-quarter-inch hose. The 
tip itself consists merely of a piece of brass flattened 
out at the end and provided with a narrow slit, 
through which the water is forced. This slit is so 
adjusted that the water issues through it in much 
the shape of a gas flame, but, of course, very much 
larger. At a distance of twenty to twenty-five inches 
from the end of the slit the water breaks up into 
innumerable fine drops, which are thoroughly effec- 
tive in washing the spiders from the leaves and not 
injuring the latter in the least. With a little practice 
the beds can be gone over quickly with this device, 
and the under side of the leaves may be so thor- 
oughly washed that the spiders will have little op- 
portunity for development. If this practice is fol- 
lowed throughout the growing season the plants will 
be able to go into Winter quarters practically free 



212 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

from the pest, and will, therefore, require little 
additional work of this kind during the Winter. 
Whenever it is necessary to spray during the Winter, 
the work must be done on a bright day, so that the 
plants will dry off in a few hours. Never spray later 
than eleven o'clock, otherwise the crowns will re- 
main wet during the night. 

Green and Brown Aphides. Every violet 
grower is probably familiar with these insects. Up 
to six or eight years ago the green aphis was about 
the only one that ever proved troublesome. Whether 
there is more than one species of green aphis which 
attacks the violet is not known. They can be found 
nearly always, and it requires only slight neglect 
for them to soon become exceedingly troublesome. 
The green aphis, with which every grower is gener- 
ally familiar, attacks both leaves and flowers, but 
it is particularly the latter that are likely to show 
the most serious effects of the pest. Ordinarily, 
when the leaves are infested the aphis is first 
found on leaves which have begun to fade. The 
yellow leaves harbor the insect, but it soon gains 
sufficient strength, if neglected, to spread to per- 
fectly healthy leaves and from them to the flowers. 
In watching plants for the green aphis, therefore, it 
is always best to keep a close eye on the yellowish 
leaves as they are picked off. If the green fly is 
found upon them immediate steps must be taken 



APHIDES 213 

to check it before it has increased sufficiently to 
spread to other parts of the plant. 

When the fresh and growing leaves become 
infested, and when it spreads to the flowers and 
young buds, the matter becomes serious and heroic 
efforts will be required to get rid of the pest. It 
is when the insect turns its attention to the flower 
buds and flowers that the most serious trouble 
results. The aphis crawls into the very young buds 
and through its punctures and the sucking of the 
juice the flower is very much distorted and is made 
practically worthless. Two or three of these insects 
in a bud will so injure it that the flower will be 
valueless. When they occur in great numbers and 
the buds and flowers are badly infested the former 
have a speckled or spotted appearance quite unlike 
what they should be. Instead of the beautiful mauve 
color, the petals have whitish blotches scattered 
over them, and this detracts greatly from their ap- 
pearance and makes them practically worthless so 
far as selling is concerned. 

Nineteen or twenty years ago the brown aphis 
began to attract attention among violet growers. 
This insect is reddish brown in color and resembles 
somewhat the one which attacks the chrysanthe- 
mum. We first observed the insect seventeen or 
eighteen years ago on some plants obtained from 
Massachusetts. Soon after this we saw it in other 
localities, and now it seems to be pretty generally 



214 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

distributed throughout the violet growing regions 
of the East. The effects of the insect are serious. In 
fact, it is a more formidable foe than the green one. 
Instead of attacking the older and more resistant 
leaves, the brown aphis as a rule will be found on 
the most tender growth just as it unfolds from the 
crown. In consequence of this habit of the insect 
the plants are severely crippled. The young leaves 
are attacked as fast as they appear, and the plants 
in consequence are so thoroughly checked and 
stunted that little or no growth takes place. It will 
be found at all seasons of the year, but is particularly 
active through the growing season, that is, from 
about the middle of May until the middle of Octo- 
ber. It seems to be more troublesome in houses than 
in the open air or in frames, but this may be accoun- 
ted for perhaps by the fact that the insect is less 
liable to the attacks of natural enemies under glass 
and has a better opportunity, therefore, of propa- 
gating itself. Like the green aphis, it also attacks the 
flowers, but seems to prefer the foliage, and as a rule 
is confined to it. Both the green and the brown 
aphis are more or less injured by cold, but still they 
cannot be entirely killed by freezing, as we have 
reason to know from experience in growing plants in 
frames, where the temperature fell as low as six or 
eight degrees below zero. In such cases many aphides 
were destroyed, but enough survived to start a new 
brood as soon as the weather became favorable. 



APHIDES 



215 



The almost universal remedy against aphides 
under glass at one time was tobacco. Fumigation 
has been the principal method followed, the ordinary 
tobacco being stems used for the purpose. Prob- 
ably in some sections fumigation with tobacco will 




64. —Brown aphides, winged and wingless forms. {The actual size 
is shown in the cross lines betiveen the antennce 0/ the top figure) 



continue to be used, as it is undoubtedly the 
simplest and cheapest method of combating these 
pests. 

We have already pointed out, however, the 
serious objections to the continued use of tobacco. 



2l6 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

This is especially the case in certain regions where 
the use of tobacco is more apt to bring on spot than 
in other sections. Where it is necessary to use 
tobacco, great care must be exercised, and the 
grower should never wait until the insects have 
accumulated in numbers; otherwise, the smoke will 
have to be made so strong that injury to the plant 
in one form or another is sure to follow. Light 
fumigations, given at regular intervals, will prob- 
ably hold both kinds of aphides in check, but aside 
from the objections already mentioned there are 
others of a serious nature which must also be con- 
sidered where tobacco is used. As everyone knows, 
the odor is exceptionably disagreeable and unde- 
sirable. This is particularly the case in violets, 
which readily take up many foreign odors and never 
fully recover from the effects. It is therefore found 
undesirable to pick violets in a house which has 
recently been fumigated with tobacco. In fact, at 
least a week should elapse after fumigation before 
any picking is done. These reasons, together with 
others which have been given, have prompted us 
to practically abandon the use of tobacco in every 
form for aphides and insects of this nature. 

A good deal has been written about the use of 
hydrocyanic acid gas for this work. After many 
experiments it was found that the gas could be 
used with perfect safety. Moreover, the flowers a 
few hours after the gas had been used were perfectly 



FUMIGATION WITH CYANIDE GAS 217 

sweet and showed no effects whatever from the 
action of the gas. From time to time various changes 
were made as to the methods of application, until 
finally the practice has developed into a compara- 
tively simple operation, which may be described 
as follows: 

In all cases where fumigation with this gas is 
to be followed it is necessary to first determine 
accurately the cubic contents of each house. The 
determination of the cubic contents of the house 
while in itself a comparatively simple problem, has, 
in the eyes of many growers, difficulties which they 
are not willing to undertake. The cubic contents can 
be determined by a comparatively simple mathe- 
matical calculation, but perhaps the easiest way is 
by a method described by the writer in the Florists' 
Exchange.* This method involves nothing more 
difficult than the mere counting of a number of 
squares, and from an examination of the accom- 
panying illustration the simplicity of the method 
will become apparent. Procure from a stationery 
store or art supply store some cross-section paper, 
such as is represented in the figure. In this particu- 
lar case squares of three sizes are shown, the largest 
being one-half inch, the next one-fourth inch, and 
the smallest one-sixteenth inch square. The one- 
fourth inch squares may represent feet. Now de- 



*Florists' Exchange, Vol. 2., No. 5. 



2l8 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

termine the dimensions of the house, that is, the 
length, width, height to ridge, and height on sides, 
and make a sketch as shown, each square, or one- 
fourth inch, representing one square foot. This 
particular house, it will be seen, is eighteen feet 
(eighteen squares) wide, twelve feet to the ridge, 
six and one-half feet high at the back, and four 
and one-half feet high in front. The ridge stands 
five feet from the back wall, as shown in the sketch. 
After the lines are drawn, simply count the squares 
inclosed, and the number of squares will be the 
number of square feet. The parts of squares, that 
is, where a line divides a square, can be easily 
determined by counting the smallest squares or by 
the eye, and by adding these fractions of squares 
together the number of whole squares may be readily 
found. After the number of square feet is obtained 
it is only necessary to multiply this by the length 
of the house in feet and the result will be the cubic 
contents. For example, supposing the house in 
question is one hundred feet long, it contains one 
hundred and fifty and one-half squares, or square 
feet, and one hundred and fifty and one-half multi- 
plied by one hundred equals 15,050 cubic feet. The 
whole operation requires less time than it takes to 
describe it and will apply, of course, to a house of 
any shape or size. It may be added that if the 
cross-section paper cannot be obtained readily the 
sections or squares can be laid off with a rule and 



220 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

lead pencil, and practically the same results obtained. 
In any event, it is only necessary to get an accurate 
outline drawing of the section of the house and by 
projecting this over squares as indicated the number 
of square feet in the section can be readily deter- 
mined. 

The gas is made by combining potassium cyan- 
ide (ninety-eight per cent, pure) and commercial 
sulphuric acid. It has been found by experiment 
that for violets 0.15 of a gram (one gram equals 
fifteen and a half avoirdupois) of ninety-eight per 
cent, cyanide of potassium will be required for each 
cubic foot of space in the house, and from these 
data it is easy to figure out the exact amount of 
cyanide of potassium wanted for a given amount of 
greenhouse room. When the cubic contents have 
been determined and 0.15 of a gram of the cyanide 
of potassium has been weighed out for each cubic 
foot, the next step is to crush all the large lumps and 
place the cyanide in small tin or metallic boxes, 
so as to have it ready for use in the house. One 
box may be placed at every few paces apart, in 
an earthenware saucer. These saucers should be 
placed in the walk, about equal distances apart, 
then add the sulphuric acid; after which the box 
containing the cyanide should be dropped in, but 
the person who drops it must leave the house at 
once. The door is then closed and in about a 
minute (sometimes less) the violent action of the 



FUMIGATION WITH CYANIDE GAS 221 

chemical changes can be heard. No attempt 
whatever must be made to enter the houses at this 
time, for by doing so death would unquestionably 
result in a jew seconds. Previous to setting off the 
gas all the ventilators must be put down, and if the 
house is loose it is well to sprinkle the roof with 
water. Arrangements must be made, however, 
for opening some of the ventilators from the outside. 
From the time the gas begins to generate it should 
be allowed to remain twenty minutes in the house 
and then the doors and ventilators should be 
opened from the outside and air freely admitted. 
When opening the ventilators from the outside 
take care not to breathe the gas. The house should 
not be entered under any circumstances for over 
half an hour, for it will take at least that time for 
the fumes to be driven out. 

Unless the aphides are very abundant it will not 
be necessary to use the gas more than once a month 
during the growing season. However, the fumiga- 
tion should not be done at regular periods, but 
should be carried on whenever there is sufficient 
evidence that aphides are increasing in undesirable 
numbers. This treatment never fails to do the 
work when proper care is taken, and there is no 
injury whatever to foliage or flowers. 

Cut Worms. The leaves of violets are some- 
times attacked and injured by cut worms. This 



222 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

is especially the case in late Spring after the new 
plants have been put out. The cut worms, as a rule, 
are more troublesome in houses where sashes are 
removed or where the sides are open. There appear 
to be several species of these insects, and as the 
worms are voracious eaters, they can in a short time 
do considerable damage to small plants. It is not 
uncommon to find young plants having only six or 
eight good leaves completely cut down by these 
pests. Sometimes the worms instead of cutting off 
the leaves will cut off the stems, and of course in 
such cases the plant is ruined. The worms appear 
to be the same kind as those which feed upon 
grasses. In fact, where grass is allowed to grow 
around the houses and in the beds, the insects are, 
as a rule, much more apt to be troublesome. The 
worms are often found an inch and a half in length, 
and it is seldom that they can be seen on the plants 
in the day time, unless in cloudy weather or in dark 
places. 

About all that can be done in the way of holding 
this pest in check is to watch the plants carefully, 
and at the first evidence of injury to search for the 
worms and destroy them. As a rule, if the worms 
are not found on the plant, they will be discovered 
just beneath the surface of the ground near the 
stem. By digging in the soil around the plants, the 
insect can be brought from its hiding place and 
destroyed. In closed houses, where fumigation is 



SAWFLY 223 

practiced, the cut worms are of course destroyed, 
but in the field and in frames the collection and 
destruction of the pest, as already stated, is about all 
that can be recommended. The fact that these 
worms live upon grasses shows the importance of 
keeping the beds perfectly clean, and also the im- 
portance of keeping the ground perfectly free of 
grass for a considerable distance around the frames 
or the beds, if the latter are made in the field. So 
far as our observations go, the moth which deposits 
the eggs from which the cut worms are hatched 
seldom if ever selects the violet. The eggs are more 
likely to be deposited on grasses and other plants, 
and from these the worms reach the violet. It fre- 
quently happens that growers are neglectful about 
keeping old beds and the corners of houses free from 
weeds and grass. It is not uncommon to allow grass 
and weeds to grow up behind the beds in some cases, 
and it is just such places that harbor worms. Rigid 
attention should therefore be given to cleanliness, 
which is as important in this case as in any of the 
others mentioned. 

Sawfly. The leaves of violets during the 
growing season — that is, from June to September — 
are sometimes injured by a small caterpillar-like 
worm, which has been determined to be the larva 
of a species of sawfly. This insect sometimes does 
considerable damage by cutting the leaves, giving 



224 DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 

the whole plant a ragged appearance. The larva of 
the sawfly seems to prefer cool, shady places, and, 
as a rule, is found near the sides of the house or in 
the shade of the gutters. Picking and destroying 
the insects is the only satisfactory means of getting 
rid of them, except where fumigation with the hy- 
drocyanic acid gas is practiced. In such cases this 
insect, together with many other kinds, will be 
effectually destroyed. It sometimes happens that 
the eggs from which the sawfly larva are hatched 
are deposited on the young plants while they are 
still in flats or before they have been transplanted 
to permanent beds. It will often be found advan- 
tageous in such cases to apply some material that 
will destroy the eggs and young larvae before the 
plants are set where they are to stand. For this 
purpose there is nothing better than the Ivory soap 
solution, the same as recommended for red spider. 
It can be applied with a hand spraying pump, or 
the solution can be made up and kept in an ordinary 
water pail, and the plants as taken up can have their 
stems and leaves dipped. This, however, is not as 
satisfactory as spraying, and is resorted to usually 
only where cuttings are lifted directly from sand 
and there is no soil adhering. 

Gallfly Maggots. We have never had any 
difficulty with this pest, but in some sections of the 
country it has occasioned serious damage. The 



GALLFLY MAGGOTS 225 

maggot is very small and is yellowish white in color. 
It is found as a rule in the youngest leaves as they 
push out from the crown of the plant. The affected 
leaves as they come out are badly curled and the 
maggots are found only where the leaf is curled. 
The maggots become so abundant that all the leaves 
become curled in this way, and as a result the whole 
plant is seriously stunted. 

The effects of the maggots are to seriously 
dwarf the growth of the plants and practically to 
stop the development of the flower buds. In many 
cases where the affected leaves are pulled off, the 
side crowns will start, but they soon become infested 
with the maggot. The maggot is the larva of a 
small gallfly, which looks like a miniature wasp. 
It is not uncommon to find maggots in the soil, and 
from the latter they seem to be able to reach the 
young leaves in some way. Whether they pass from 
the leaves to the soil and there attain the adult state 
we are not able to say, and so far as we know this 
point has not been determined. Our observations 
lead us to believe that the pest is much more apt 
to occur in localities where proper attention has not 
been paid to mixing the soil and to drainage. On 
low, heavy, wet ground the pest is much more apt 
to be injurious than where good soil is at hand and 
where drainage is perfect. Certain kinds of manures 
seem to favor the development of the maggot. 
Whether it is capable of living in the manure, or 



226 



DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 



on plants alone, has not been determined, so far as 
we are aware. It seems to be a fact, however, that 
where manure is not clean, that is, where it is mixed 
with refuse in the shape of garbage and other 
material, the pest is apt to breed. 




66. — Sawfly (eiilarged) 



There is no satisfactory remedy for this maggot 
when once it has infested a house. We cannot 
speak as to the effect of hydrocyanic acid gas upon 
it. It is not practicable to pick the leaves, because 
in such cases the crowns are permanently injured 




o 
60 

bo 
O 

bo 









228 



DISEASES AND INSECT ENEMIES 



and the flowering is therefore either entirely stopped 
or checked. Air-slacked lime thrown into the crown 
will be found beneficial. It should be thrown into 
the plant with considerable force and plenty should 
be allowed to reach the soil. Following this practice 




68. — Gallfly (greatly magnified) 



and giving the best cultural conditions possible, 
such as allowing abundance of air and stirring the 
soil, is about all that can be suggested in the line 
of treatment. 



PHLYCTAENIA RUBIGALIS 229 

Phlyctaenia rubigalis. Violet plants are 
sometimes attacked during Midsummer by the larva 
of a small moth which has been identified under the 
above name. The larvae attack the leaves, destroy- 
ing the softer parts and leaving only the skeleton 
or framework of the tissues. The illustration does 
not show this plainly, as the camera does not 




69. — Larvce and moths of Phlyctamia rubigalis 

distinguish the colors sufficiently. Plants grown 
in shady places are usually most liable to attack. 
Generally the worms are surrounded by a light 
web, and occasionally two leaves are fastened 
together in order to give them protection. The 
insect never produces serious injury, but it is well 
to watch for it and take such steps to destroy it as 
may be practicable. It may be destroyed by pick- 
ing the leaves containing the larvae, but it is best 
to fumigate with hydrocyanic acid gas. 



23O COST OF PRODUCTION 



CHAPTER IX 



COST OF PRODUCTION AND PROFITS 

In a matter of this kind it is difficult to give 
anything but approximate figures. Location, prox- 
imity to market, ability to get fuel, soil, and manure, 
the cost of labor, etc., are all factors that play an 
important part in making an estimate as to the 
actual cost of producing the crop. In making an 
estimate it will be necessary to take into considera- 
tion the value of the ground, the cost of houses, 
and, in fact, everything connected with the work, 
just as a commercial man would consider all 
phases of his business in any effort at determining 
profit and loss. It will be best to make the estimates 
on a definite number of plants, as it is easier to 
figure from this standpoint, as a matter of fact, 
that the cost of production will be relatively less 
for ten thousand plants than it is for five thousand. 
The same will hold true as we decrease the number 
of plants— that is, five thousand can be grown at 
relatively less cost than one thousand. There 
are a number of reasons for this, chief of which is 
the fact that the more plants there are the more 



COST AND PROFITS 23 I 

possible it is for the grower to so arrange all of his 
operations as not to have a loss of material or time. 
For instance, it costs less relatively to heat houses 
holding ten thousand plants than it does to heat 
houses holding five thousand. The same will hold 
true for labor, for soil, for fertilizers, and, in fact, 
for all matters connected with the work. 

Under ordinary conditions, such as we find in 
the vicinity of many of our large cities, we may 
place the cost of ground and houses sufficient for 
ten thousand plants at, roughly, three thousand 
five hundred dollars. In some respects this is an 
over-estimate, but it is based on the fact that 
ground used for this purpose is worth not less than 
six to eight hundred dollars an acre and that the 
houses are of the same kind as those we have 
already described. We have, therefore, to es- 
timate as one of the items of the cost of produc- 
tion the interest on the money invested in houses, 
ground, and other fixtures connected with the work. 
We may put this as a total at four thousand 
dollars, so that the interest at six per cent, would 
be two hundred and forty dollars. There is also 
to be considered the question of wear and tear on 
the houses and other materials used in connection 
with growing the plants. This may be placed at not 
less than eight per cent, a year. In other words, 
renovating walks, replacing broken glass, painting, 
and other necessary repairs will cost not less than 



232 COST OF PRODUCTION 

two hundred and eighty dollars a year, and may 
easily exceed three hundred. 

The cost of fuel will, of course, vary widely, but 
under ordinary conditions, that is, in regions where 
the temperature seldom goes lower than twelve 
degrees below zero for any length of time, the 
amount of fuel necessary to heat houses holding 
ten thousand plants will probably not exceed one 
hundred and fifty-five dollars. 

The cost of labor, not including that of the 
grower himself, which is not estimated here, should 
scarcely exceed six hundred dollars' per year. 
In other words, the grower himself, with the assist- 
ance of one good man, can easily handle ten thou- 
sand plants. It may be necessary to make some al- 
lowance for the busy season, when possibly an extra 
man would have to be taken on for a month. With 
the grower understanding his business it is not neces- 
sary to have an expert as an assistant. An ordinary 
Iaborer, provided he is quick, active, ana willing to 
work, will answer every purpose. Such help can be 
obtained for forty to fifty-five dollars per month. 
Labor, therefore, we estimate at six hundred to 
six hundred and fifty dollars per year. For 
incidentals, including express charges and 
various minor matters, we estimate one hundred 
dollars. These figures will vary, of course, in 
different localities, but are, we believe, a fair 
average. 



COST AND PROFITS 233 

Summarized, the total outlay for ten thousand 
plants per year is as follows: 

Interest on money invested in ground, houses, 

etc $240 

Repairs 300 

Fuel 155 

Labor 600 

Incidentals 100 

Total $i,395 

The total output of money per year, therefore, 
in growing ten thousand plants is estimated at one 
thousand three hundred and ninety-five dollars. 
This is an expenditure of fourteen cents per plant 
so that the actual cost of maintaining and growing 
each plant, basing the estimate on ten thousand 
plants, is near enough fourteen cents. We have 
given what in our judgment is a fair average at 
the present day, basing our calculations upon a 
general rise of 15 per cent, on the costs as quoted 
in the previous edition of this book; but, of course, 
these figures can be reduced by rigid attention to 
details and a thorough knowledge of all the points 
necessarily connected with the work. If the owner 
is willing to take a hand and to attend largely to the 
firing and look after the watering and ventilation, 
the cost will be materially decreased. If, on the 
other hand, he delegates this work to others he 
must necessarily pay for it, and in consequence 
the cost of production will be increased. 



234 COST OF PRODUCTION 

Turning our attention now to the other phase 
of the question, namely, the profits, we are con- 
fronted at the outset with the same difficulties as 
mentioned in the first instance — that is, the profits 
will depend in large measure on the market, on the 
ability of the man to properly handle his crop, and 
above all on the quality of the product. 

It must be understood that at first the grower 
will have to be content with relatively low prices, 
for the reason that he has yet to make a reputation, 
and until this is accomplished he may not hope to 
command from the market the highest returns. 
There is always an opening for good stock, but, as 
we have pointed out elsewhere, it is not only neces- 
sary to have the stock good, but it is of the highest 
importance that it should be so handled and so put 
on the market as to create a demand for it. As soon 
as the demand is created it is not so difficult to 
increase prices. 

As to the yield of flowers per plant, this will 
depend altogether on the knowledge of the grower. 
Ordinarily fifty flowers per plant is considered a 
good average, but there is no reason why this 
average should not be increased to seventy-five or 
even one hundred. 1 be grower should not be content 
with less than seventy-five salable flowers per plant, 
and his aim and effort should be to succeed in mak- 
ing every plant average this number. On the basis 
of fifty flowers per plant, however, the total yield 



COST AND PROFITS 235 

from ten thousand plants would be five hundred 
thousand flowers. If the yield be increased to 
seventy-five flowers per plant the total number of 
flowers is, of course, seven hundred and fifty thou- 
sand. Now, this increase of the total number of 
flowers does not mean the increasing of the cost of 
production to any great extent. The cost is rela- 
tively little more than for producing fifty. The 
main additional item of cost to be considered is 
that connected with the handling of the crop, which 
is a relatively small amount. Let us assume, how- 
ever, that the grower averages fifty flowers per 
plant, and that he is so situated that the best prices 
he is able to command will average about sixty 
cents or a little more per hundred for the season. 
This will mean that he receives approximately 
the following prices: 

September flowers $0.50 per hundred 

October flowers 50 per hundred 

November flowers 1.00 per hundred 

December flowers 1.00 per hundred 

January flowers 0.75 per hundred 

February flowers 0.35 per hundred 

March flowers 0.30 per hundred 

April flowers 0.75 per hundred 

Average 0.64 per hundred 

These months, as already indicated, will give 
him an average of sixty-four cents, providing his 
plants yield as they ordinarily do — that is, a heavy 
flowering in October, November and April, with 



236 PRICES FOR FLOWERS 

lighter crops during the other months. If he can 
by a proper handling of his plants and by proper 
selection so change the flowering period as to get 
the heaviest yields during the months of December 
and January, he can, as will readily be seen, in- 
crease his average, because the flowers will be worth 
more at this time. In other words, it is far better 
to get fifty thousand flowers in December and 
twenty-five thousand in March than to get twenty- 
five thousand in December and fifty thousand in 
March. 

It is entirely within the range of possibility to 
grow the crop so as to increase the number of 
flowers during the regular Winter months. An 
average of sixty cents per hundred blooms is com- 
paratively low and should not be considered as the 
limit by any means. With a reputation established 
for growing good flowers, and for putting them on 
the market in a fresh state and always in excellent 
condition, the range of prices can be materially 
increased. There is no reason why the flowers 
should not average considerably more, and, fur- 
thermore, there is no reason why each plant 
should not be grown so as to yield an average of 
one hundred flowers per plant. As an example 
of what has been accomplished we give the yields 
for eight months of fourteen hundred Lady Hume 
Campbell plants in one of our houses and the prices 
in those years, as follows: 



COST AND PROFITS 237 

Per 100 

October, 1897, 8,000 flowers $0.50 

November, 1897, 1 1,950 flowers 0.75 

December, 1897, 12,000 flowers 1.00 

January, 1898, 1 1,830 flowers 1.25 

February, 1898, 17,250 flowers 0.75 

March, 1898, 23,900 flowers 0.75 

April, 1898, 23,850 flowers 0.50 

May, 1898, 3,800 flowers 0.50 

Total 112,580 Average $0.75 

It will be seen that this house, containing 
fourteen hundred plants, yielded an average of 
eighty flowers per plant, and the average price 
received was seventy-five cents per hundred, so that 
the value of the yield of each plant was sixty cents. 

On the basis of an average of sixty cents per 
hundred, the total value of the yield from ten 
thousand plants would be three thousand dollars, or 
thirty cents per plant. We have already seen that 
the cost of producing such a plant is fourteen cents, 
so that the net profit is sixteen cents per plant, or 
one thousand six hundred dollars for the establish- 
ment. Therefore, if the average yield is increased, 
as it should be, to seventy-five or one hundred 
flowers per plant, the profits will be increased ap- 
proximately sixty-four and one hundred and twen- 
ty-eight per cent, respectively. 

On the whole, it may be said that the income 
from ten thousand plants grown in houses and 
handled properly should, year in and year out, aver- 



238 NET PROFITS 

age up to two thousand dollars, while the total 
expenses should not exceed one thousand dollars. 
This seems a small amount for seven or eight 
months' labor, but we have kept the expense side 
of the account high purposely, so as to have some- 
thing in hand. Of course, competition is keener 
now, and the Winter sweet peas and antirrhinums 
occupy part of the place that the violets did for- 
merly. 

Some successful growers follow the violet crop 
with sweet peas or tomatoes (after about April 
18), or cucumbers (for Midsummer). 

Violets can be grown in frames cheaper than 
they can in houses. With good care the total cost 
per plant will not exceed five cents, or ten cents per 
hundred for the flowers, reckoning that the average 
yield of the latter is fifty flowers per plant. Such 
flowers ought to net the grower fifty cents per 
hundred, leaving a profit over all expenses of forty 
cents per hundred or approximately four dollars per 
sash. Finally, it must be remembered that while 
these figures are fair averages, and are based on 
actual experiences, they cannot be approximated 
without strict attention to everv detail. 



VIOLET GROWING FOR BEGINNERS 239 



CHAPTER X 

VIOLET GROWING FOR BEGINNERS 

There have been many inquiries from persons 
who are desirous of embarking in violet culture and 
who wish to begin in a small way at first, partly to 
gain experience and partly to satisfy a love for the 
kind of work which violet growing involves. The 
chief points upon which information is desired are 
(1) the minimum number of plants required to 
make a successful start, (2) the source from which 
stock plants can be obtained, (3) the cheapest and 
best form of structure to use as a beginning, (4) the 
capital required to make a proper start and (5) the 
profit which might result, all things being con- 
sidered, from a specific investment. 

We believe that it is always the part of wisdom 
to start with enough plants to make it pay a dealer 
to handle the flowers from them. Of course a start 
can be made with one hundred plants, or even less, 
but the crop from this small number will be so 
irregular as to make it difficult to dispose of same, 
except at considerable sacrifice. With five hundred 
plants a fair start can be made, but it will be still 
better to secure not less than one thousand plants if 



240 VIOLET GROWING FOR BEGINNERS 

room is available. It takes very little more time 
to grow one thousand plants than it does to grow 
five hundred, and the results are much more satis- 
factory. From one thousand plants, properly 
handled, a sufficient quantity of flowers can be 
picked regularly to warrant a dealer in handling 
them and to warrant him furthermore in giving a 
little better price for the product than if the same 
were coming in at irregular intervals. 

Stock plants, or plants to start with, may be 
obtained from regular dealers who advertise in 
nearly all the florists' papers. These advertisements 
will usually be found in the papers at the proper 
season for stock; that is, usually in the Fall from 
October to December, and in the Spring from Feb- 
ruary to May. An examination of any of the 
reputable florists' journals at this time will enable 
a person who is desirous of going into the business 
to get stock at very reasonable prices. It may be, 
of course, that stock can be obtained from some lo- 
cal grower, and if this is practicable it will be better 
than sending a distance for it, where the risk of 
injury by shipment must be considered. All of the 
suggestions in regard to stock, cuttings, etc., which 
have been offered in previous chapters, will apply 
here. It will be better in all cases to endeavor to 
get well-rooted sand cuttings rather than divided 
plants. The earlier the young plants can be ob- 
tained, other things being equal, the better. If they 



STOCK PLANTS 24 1 

can be secured by the middle of February they may 
then be potted into two-inch pots and kept in a 
coldframe free from frost until the proper time for 
setting them out. These young plants are handled 
in just about the same manner as strawberry 
plants. 

The stock being secured, the next point to con- 
sider is the form of structuie to be used in growing 
the crop. Either coldframes or a cheap house will 
be suitable for the purpose, but for reasons which 
have been given in previous chapters, the house is 
preferable. However, if this cannot be erected the 
first year, frames may be used. It will not be neces- 
sary to secure the glass for the frames until Autumn, 
when the plants are ready to be covered. We have 
already described in detail the construction of 
frames, and have shown at what cost they can be 
erected complete, with mats for protection in 
Winter. If a person starts with five hundred plants 
it is safe to estimate that the cost of frames, includ- 
ing glass and mats, will be twenty to twenty-five 
dollars. If one thousand plants are to be grown, 
the cost, of course, will be just about double, or 
perhaps a little less, say thirty-five dollars. The 
disadvantages of frames have been mentioned, it 
having been pointed out that they are unreliable 
and that even with close attention the plants in 
them are often frozen, and during cold weather it is 
impossible to pick flowers for days at a time. 



242 VIOLET GROWING FOR BEGINNERS 

Furthermore, no one except the most robust can 
endure the exposure necessarily connected with the 
growing of plants in frames. On the other hand, a 
cheap house, properly constructed, is comfortable 
at all times, and is really a delightful place in 
which to work during the sunshiny days of Winter, 
regardless of the weather. Such a house has already 
been described. A house suitable for holding one 
thousand plants, properly constructed, would cost 
one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy- 
five dollars. 

It might be well to describe somewhat more in 
detail a simple method of heating such a house, 
especially as this is an important feature in connec- 
tion with the work. A suitable boiler, of which 
there are many styles from which to select and 
which need not cost more than from thirty-five to 
forty dollars, may be placed on a level with the 
bottom of the walk, in one corner of the house, 
preferably at the north end. The arrangement of 
the heating pipes is simple. A one and one-half 
inch pipe is run out from the top of the boiler and 
carried along the roof to the far end of the house, 
allowing a drop of about one inch in every ten feet; 
that is, the end of the pipe at the far end of a 
sixty foot house would be six inches lower than 
where it starts from the upright pipe leading from 
the boiler. Here proper fittings are put on and four 
one and one-quarter inch pipes are connected with 



CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSE PROFITS 243 

the first one run out. Two of these pipes are 
brought back to the boiler along the east wall and 
two along the west, allowing the same fall as for 
the one and one-half inch pipe. At the north end 
the four return pipes are all brought into the 
bottom of the boiler by proper connections, and 
the job is complete. In order to keep the boiler 
and pipe at all times filled with water and to allow 
for the expansion it is necessary to add an expan- 
sion tank to the heating system. This may be 
attached directly over the boiler and should be 
slightly higher than the highest point on the flow 
pipe. As soon as the water warms, after the fire is 
started, it flows through the one and one-half inch 
pipe and back through the four smaller pipes at 
the sides, giving out its genial heat all the time. 
Practically the same system is followed as in any 
ordinary range boiler where the hot water comes 
out from the top of the water back, flows into the 
boiler and the cold water flows into the bottom. 

The profits from such work are always difficult 
to estimate, as has been pointed out, there being 
many conditions which have to be considered. 
There is no reason, however, why with proper care 
the results the first year should not be sufficient to 
cover all expenses incurred in the building of a 
house sufficient for one thousand plants, the pur- 
chase of stock, fuel, etc., or in round numbers from 
two hundred and seventy-five to three hundred 



244 VIOLET GROWING FOR BEGINNERS 

dollars. After managing a house of this kind for 
two or three years successfully the experience 
gained will warrant the building of others until, 
with proper care and judicious management, the 
yearly income from one's own labor may be made 
to reach a very satisfactory figure. 




INDEX 

Page 

Aphides, Green and Brown 212 

Beginners, Violet Growing for 239-244 

Boilers 67-76 

Bone 42-44 

Brown Aphides 212 

Bud Nematodes 201 

Bunching 1 56-1 59 

Cleaning Plants 132 

Construction: 

Of Frames 88-94 

Of Greenhouses 57-64 

Of Sash Houses 81-86 

Cost of Production and Profits 230-238 

Crown, Dividing the 100 

Crown Rot 197 

Culture, Past and Present 31 

Cuttings from Crowns 108 

Cuttings, Rooted 106 

Cut Worms 221 

Diseases and Their Treatment. (See also Insects.) 

Spot, or Spot Disease 172 

Wilt, or Stem Rot 181 

Nanism, or Stuntedness 185 

Scald, or Edge Burn 189 

Oedema, or Wart Disease 193 

Crown Rot 197 

Root Galls , 198 

Bud Nematodes 201 

Engines, Gasoline 97 

Farming, Violet 3 2 

Feeding 136 

Fertilizers 42, 136 

Frames : 

Construction of 88-93 

Heating 94 

Material and Cost 95 



Page 

Freezing Soil 41 

Fumigation: 

With Hydrocyanic Acid Gas 216 

With Tobacco 215 

Gallfly Maggots 224 

Green Aphides 212 

Greenhouses: 

Construction of Various Types of Houses 57-64 

Heating 64-76 

Material and Cost 77-8 1 

Handling Crop 1 5 5 

Heating: 

Greenhouses 64-76 

Sash Houses 86 

Hydrocyanic Acid Gas, Fumigation with 216 

Insects and Other Pests. (See also Diseases.) 

Bud Nematodes 201 

Red Spider 203 

Green and Brown Aphides 212 

Cut Worms 221 

Sawfly 223 

Gallfly Maggots. . ._ 224 

Phlyctsenia rubigalis 229 

Introduction of Varieties 25 

Lime 4 2 

Maggots, Gallfly 224 

Manure 42, 1 3 5 

Marketing Crop 149 

Mats for Frames 90, 92, 93 

Mulching *35 

Nanism 185 

Nematodes, Bud 201 

Oedema - *93 

Offshoots, Cutting, from Main Plant 105 

Origin of Varieties ' 25 

Packing 1 59-167 

Phlyctsenia rubigalis 229 

Picking 156 

Pipes, Water 98 

Planting. . 124-130 

Plowing Soil 49 

Production, Cost of 230-238 

Profits in Growing Violets 230-238 



Propagating: Page 

Dividing the Crown ioo 

Cutting Offshoots 105 

Cuttings from Crowns 108 

Cuttings in Sand and Soil 114 

Fall Propagation 115 

Red Spider 203 

Rooted Cuttings 106, 109 

Root Galls 198 

Runners, Cutting from Main Plant 105 

Sand Rooted Cuttings 109 

Sash Houses: 

Construction of 81-86 

Heating 86 

Material and Cost 86 

Sawfly 223 

Scald 189 

Selection of Stock for Vigor and Productiveness 1 17-124 

Soil: 

Physical Properties of 37 

Texture of 38, 39 

Mixing 39, 45-47 

Structure of 40 

Handling 41 

Stacking 41, 42 

Freezing 41 

Use of Lime in 42 

Use of Chemical Fertilizer in 42 

Use of Manure in 42 

Use of Bone in 42-44 

Heavy and Light Ingredients of 45 

Experimenting with, Dangers of 46 

Quantity Necessary 47 

Plowing 49 

Spot, or Spot Disease 172 

Stacking Soil 41, 42 

Staking 121 

Stem Rot 181 

Stock, Selection of, for Vigor and Productiveness 1 17-124 

Stuntedness 185 

Syringing 135 

Tagging 121 

Tanks, Fertilizer 99 

Tanks, Water 96 

Temperature 1 38-141 



Page 

Temperature Records 142-147 

Tobacco, Fumigation with 216 

Varieties: 
Single: 

Odorata 19 

Russian 19 

Welsiana 19 

Governor Herrick 20 

Luxonne 20 

California, or Madame E. Arene 20 

Princess of Wales, or Princess de Galles 20 

La France 21 

Dorsett 21 

Double: 

Neapolitan 21 

Lady Hume Campbell 24 

Marie Louise 24 

Farquhar and Imperial 24 

Swanley White 25 

Madam Millet 25 

Ventilation 84, 139 

Wart Disease 193 

Watering 133, 134 

Water Supply: 

Tank 96 

Windmill 97 

Gasoline Engine 97 

Piping 98 

Wilt 181 

Windmills 97 














;gccJ;;".§!.;Jj 



.. : ■ ; :■ ■ . ■ ■ ■ . 





-: 1 n!ciiB;a;in: •.;:;.:::,: 







